The Tearing
by KH2083
Summary: The story about group of people gathered by the King of Dreams to oppose the terrible power threatening all reality.
1. Chapter 1

**Jessica Vale „ Preview " **

Jessica Vale was travelling in the car across the remote areas of New Mexico's deserts. There was a moonless night, a gloomy darkness lightened up only by the glitter of the stars on the sky as dark as ink and floodlights of the girl's vehicle ruled around. Air was cool and the wind was raging above stones was creating a single sound in the stillness flooding everything around. Jessica in order to fight with that silence and feeling of loneliness turned the radio on and was listening to night-time broadcasts. Mutant girl was coming back to the Xavier's Institute after the visit in her mother's house. Events of recent weeks, the problems with her concealed abilities and apparitions from her past which she created, caused that she had to rest from peculiarities offered her by the school. She had the willingness to come back to her normal life and most importantly to talk about the future with Hope Abbot, her room-mate. Various scenarios, mixed with lyrics of listened songs were jumbling in her thoughts as her eyelids became more and more heavy and the tiredness embraced her body.

"Now especially for young miss Evans from the New York state - She's like the wind." The radio broadcast was stopped by interferences. Jessie turned the knob of the radio around in order to tune the frequency.

„…She leads me through moonlight only to burn me with the sun. She's taken my heart…" Noise spoilt the radio broadcast again. Jessica turned the potentiometer around.

„...her body close me, Can't look in her eyes…" After a few seconds the voice of the radio was entirely replaced by the white noise.

"Damn it!" The girl became nervous. She turned the radio off simultaneously looking ahead of herself. She noticed a small gas station with the bar lighted up by the fancifully bent neon light. The place seemed to her to be taken out from the quite different part of the world, put in the middle of the desert by accident. Jessica thought that somebody in this building could have some type of the radio antenna which disrupted her broadcasts. She decided to seize an opportunity and rest before the further journey. She looked around while going to the building. The air seemed more pleasant to her and the spooky voice of the wind died away. The girl knocked at the door. The short elderly man in glasses opened her.

"Welcome you, what can I do for you?" He asked.

"I just want to rest. If it is possible..."

"But of course, after all, it's the purpose of our inn. Passengers from different worlds can safely rest before their more further journey." Jessica came inside. Everything was made in a wood, a smell of old, wet timber was hanging everywhere.

"Do we have guests? " Someone's shrill voice sounded. Big-assed old woman went down a stairway. "Welcome! I'll prepare something to eat for you right away! I didn't know that you would appear so early! If I knew..." She started walking around the black-haired girl. Jessie was a bit confused.

"Leave the girl alone, can't see you that she is worn out?" The grandfather interrupted her, and then he turned to young mutant.

"Excuse me, but my wife – here bow in the direction of my wife - likes guests very much. She is delighted with every visit. We not often have guests in these sides. Right?"

"Yes, yes... When it was recently... it was a few..." The woman replied. Jessica walked away from the talking couple.

"Where is the toilet? I'd like..." She asked.

"Of course. I'll show you!" The stranger announced and pointed at the direction of one of corridors. After a moment he came back to the wife.

"Quickly. Look for the key! We must open the door for her!"

"But I was hoping that she would stay with us a bit longer. After all we haven't had guests for a few thousand years..."

"Unfortunately... Lord of the Sleeping Marches is waiting for her. Time is running out". Both old people started searching something inside the wardrobe standing in the corner of the room. The woman found the golden key and gave it to her husband.

"Here it is!" The grandfather opened the door. After a moment Jessica came back to the main chamber of the house. Elders looked to her and then at each other.

"Please enter there. There, you'll be able to rest before the journey".

The girl did as she was asked to do. Having crossed the door, she found herself in a dark room. At first she could see nothing and could hear only creaking of wood under her own feet. After a moment other sounds started reaching her mind. At first single and quiet, then they became louder and more numerous and quickly turned into the hubbub of the tavern. Jessica was inside some inn. Her eyes opened wide from amazement, she thought that she was dreaming or had some visual hallucinations. Many bizarre beings were partying around her. She touched the dwarf drinking a beer who only looked at her with disgust and swore something in his language. The man with a horse head passed by her and neighed looking at her face. Jessica was walking slowly, like in the trance not paying heed to individuals surrounding her. She reached the table close to the burning fireplace. The tall man in black dress was standing nearby it. He had pale face, thick, black hair and dark eyes. He moved his arm in the direction of the girl.

"Welcome Jessica Vale. As one of few you heard my message sent into worlds. Great changes are coming, the entire reality is in a danger. You have a choice: to stay passive to events or to help repair what was already destroyed."

**Alan Scott „ Green Lantern " **

There was a late night and Alan Scott was lying in the bed not being able to fall asleep. He was watching the ceiling of his flat plunged in a complete darkness and in his bedroom an old, antique clock's ticking was heard. The man raised his hand above the head, he looked at the ring phosphorescing in the darkness with a weak green light. He knew that he wouldn't be asleep that night, therefore he decided to clear his mind from different, chaotic thoughts teeming inside it. He got up and moved toward the second room. He came up to the wooden table on which the old, manual green lamp was lying. He put the ring to the object smiling. He started to recite words of the oath taken a long time ago with a quiet voice:

„_In brightest day, in darkest night_

_No evil shall escape my sight_

_Let those who worship evil might_

_Beware my power, Green Lantern's light"_

The body of the man was surrounded by the bright, green flame which lightened darkness prevailing in the room up. Alan's clothes were replaced by the uniform of the first Earth's Green Lantern – red shirt with the symbol of the lamp, green trousers and dark blue cape with the turned up collar. The man extended a hand with the ring in the direction of the window, which was opened immediately. Green Lantern left the room through it and he glided toward the sky surrounded by celadon glow of his flame. He was hovering above the city trying to remind himself what drove him to go on the night flight trip. He passed above the city centre and entered the suburbs. He was gazing at things during his way: night club in front of which many people gathered, because some concert was supposed to take place there, the train travelling through outskirts of the city, the small asleep town. In the end he reached the farm which was surrounded by kilometers of fields flooded in a darkness. He touched down in a front of the big barn. The flame stopped emanating from his body and the wind could freely shake his cape and hair. Creaking of the door stopped the silence of the night. Alan moved in its direction himself. He opened it gently, preparing the ring in a case of an attack. When he entered the room, his eyes opened widely from astonishment. He saw his friend who was already dead. Wesley Doods, the original Sandman was standing in the middle of the room dressed in his suit, the cape, the hat and the gas mask. He moved a hand towards Scott.

"Welcome Alan. Don't you recognize your friend?" GL hesitated. He wanted to use the ring on his old acquaintance in order to become convinced whom or what he really was.

"Wesley is dead... it'd better be only a stupid joke because if you used his image to attack me, you'll not get away with it." The man replied angrily.

"I'm dead. But perhaps today is a special night, during which everything can happen. Perhaps for this one night, I returned?" The apparition replied calmly.

"Even if what you're saying is a truth, I'll have to gather the entire JSA so that they can state..." Sandman cut him off in a mid-sentence.

"No. This matter concerns only you. It is your dream, nobody else's". Alan dropped his hands.

"Dream, it makes sense." He thought. The strange need of going to the remote place in the middle of the night, fact that everything what happened so far was a dream would be a reasonable, logical explanation.

"Now you are convinced that you are in your home and you are dreaming. Perhaps it will be easier for you to fulfill what I'm going to ask you to do". The man in the mask continued.

"Ask me to do something? What exactly?"

"Come with me". He pointed at the old door which immediately opened by strong blast of the wind. Both men left the house. It was silent everywhere around, the sky devoid of stars had the dark-purple color. Doods moved through the meadow toward the forest barely seen in the darkness. GL followed him. They went across the grass in a silence listening to sounds of their own steps. Alan Scott broke the silence.

"I know that perhaps what I'm asking about is stupid... But is this all a dream?" Sandman looked at him through his gas mask.

"Am I a dream? Yes, I am a dream. Are you dreaming? You can say yes, since I am your dream. Is this all a dream? No – what now is happening as well as what will happen to you is real".

He came up to the next wooden house and opened its door slightly.

"Here, Alan Scott. I cannot go with you farther. You must set off on the travel alone, unaided."

"But I have so many questions." Green Lantern protested.

"You will find answers for them behind this door". After these last words the man in the gas mask dissolved into thin air leaving only a sand after himself. Alan entered the darkness inviting him into the interior of the cottage. He found a way into very crowded place, probably some inn. A loud music was playing there and extraordinary hubbub prevailed. Lantern looked around. The fat woman served the beer to dwarfs, the characters dressed in black were playing the poker with people looking deceased in the angle of the room and the monkey was smoking a cigar sitting on the barrel of beer. Scott raised his hand with the ring and surrounded his body with protective, green flame. He didn't know what this company was capable of.

"Drop your weapon Alan Scott." He heard someone's voice. The tall man in black dress was standing nearby the fireplace. He had pale face, thick, black hair and dark eyes. He moved his arm in the direction of the man.

"Welcome Green Lantern, carrying Heart of the Star, Master of Green Flame. As one of few you heard my message sent into worlds. Great changes are coming, the entire reality is in a danger. You have a choice: to stay passive to events or to help repair what was already destroyed."

**Sakiko Hayasu „ Hunter in the Night " **

Sakiko Hayasu was walking along dirty, municipal avenue plunged in the darkness. Her footsteps were uneven, the girl was holding her arm. After a moment she stopped and leaned against the wall. She moved her hand over its uneven surface, then pressed her head against it clenching her teeth. Sounds of the city were coming into her ears: music playing somewhere in the distance, signal of an ambulance on some far away street. Some tramp, sleeping in the cardboard box a few meters farther, spat looking straight at Sakiko with his drunken eyes. The girl didn't think about anything what was happening around her. She strongly touched her arm and a few drops of blood fell on the pavement. She was injured and although her wound wasn't too big, it caused her a great pain.

"He gave me a slip again. When I was so close. At least I rescued those poor men. If they murdered them, he would become even more powerful. And what was the meaning of it all ? If he escaped, he will return, then he'll find followers and new victims again. You screwed this task up, Sakiko you must admit it. And this damn wound. He had to cast some spell which is destroying me from inside." She looked at blood on her hand and it turned out that it was becoming blacker and blacker. She fell on the pavement and closed her eyes.

"And now I have to die. On the streets, by some drunk tramps, killed by weak necromancer." She felt that she was losing consciousness. The drunk in the carton lay down to sleep and howling of a stray dog was heard from a distance.

...

The girl opened her eyes with an effort. At first everything around her was blurred and sounds reaching her had no meaning for her. Sakiko turned to the other side. She felt that she was lying on something soft.

"Bed, someone's bed" She thought. The wound on her shoulder really hurt her.

"I live. But where am I?" Her senses started getting back to normal. She looked around herself seeing a little room with walls covered with wooden boards, the small window by which the sun's rays were flowing inside, a few wooden chairs and the wardrobe standing in the corner. Everything seemed strangely familiar to her. She tried to get up. She felt dizzy, therefore she sat down on the bed very quickly. She clutched her arm noticing that somebody had carefully dressed her wound.

"Don't get up. You must rest". She heard a squawking voice. The old, short and big-arsed woman dressed in old clothing went into the room. Sakiko opened her eyes wide with an amazement. She recognized the witch who she had met during the adventure with Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus. "Hello... thanks for the help..." She said.

"I did what was necessary. I got a message for you. I had to get you here".

"What message?"

"Not so quickly. You must build up your strength first". The witch handed the mug with green liquid to the girl. Sakiko tasted it. It was incredibly tasteless.

"What's this? It can't be drunk..."

"It can be. Drink it, because otherwise the curse of that necromancer can return". The girl was surprised again. However before asking the old how she could know about her opponent, she forced herself to drink the entire mug of liquid. Wonders never cease!, she started feeling better.

"I know about your necromancer, I also know where you can find him. Come with me. I will show you something". Sakiko got up. She was very weakened. The older woman entered the main room of the cottage with her. Many bookshelves with various strange and bizarre specimen were standing inside it. The girl quickly gazed at them all seeing human skulls, hundreds of different herbs and old books, crystal ball in which the miniature galaxy shimmered, stuffed bird taking the beak out from the cage, skeleton of Siamese twins conjoined at the thorax and a lot of other bizarre objects. The witch went to the window. A fishing rod was attached to its casing. The old woman pulled it, taking the bottle with the letter hanged on it.

"It is a message for you, my dear". She squawked.

"To me, where do you have it from?"

"From the dream, my dear. I'll read you what it says". The witch took a yellowed sheet of paper out of the bottle. There were no letters on it.

"You must go on a journey girl! You must move before it is too late!" She shouted. Sakiko walked away from her.

"Where do you know it from? After all there is nothing written on this sheet of paper!"

"I have no time for discussions with you now. You must go! The entire Creation needs you!" Fat woman opened one of the doors behind which only darkness was hidden. She patted the girl on the back telling her to go.

"I'm supposed to trust you and enter there? I don't know what I'm facing! I cannot". The old woman spat on the floor with an anger. She stood on her toes looking straight in the eyes of Sakiko.

"Do you want to catch this necromancer?"

Children who the man sacrificed for his masters appeared in front of black-haired girl's eyes. She heard their crying. She knew that she would have to risk and listen to the woman.

"Well. I'll go there... "The witch smiled. Sakiko went through the door and was consumed by the darkness prevailing around. Soon the dimness disappeared and she found herself inside some crowded inn. Various characters were walking in front of her eyes and the majority of them didn't resemble anything that girl had seen in her life. The man dressed in black with a goatee beard was sitting nearby two men without faces and the woman with wings of the butterfly. Sakiko very quickly recognized her old adversary in him. She rushed in his direction pushing everyone who was on her way. She catch the magus' shirt and raised the second hand up. Her eyes glowed and vampire fangs appeared in her mouth.

"Now you will pay for your crimes, you monster!" When her hand was going to deal a final blow to the man it was stopped by a large shining green hand. She looked behind herself.

"Who!" She shouted out. Three people were standing opposite to her. Middle-aged man in the cape whose ring created shining hand, girl in Sakiko's age and the tall man in the black dress with a pale face, thick black hair and dark eyes. The one last spoke to the female vampire.

"Welcome Sakiko Hayasu, walking in the dark. As one of few you heard my message sent into worlds. Great changes are coming, the entire reality is in a danger. You have a choice: to stay passive to events or to help repair what was already destroyed."

Meanwhile the old witch prepared for her own travel. She left her house on the chicken leg carrying with herself the bundle with the most needed things. She spat on the leg of the cottage.

"Go into the world. Protect my secrets from others". The house disappeared in forest thickets. The woman plunged into the fog enveloping everything.

**Raan Shaner **

Rann Shaner was standing on a huge terrace made from the white stone. Above him a reddish sky was stretching, on which a gas giant was visible from behind clouds. The man was looking at his surroundings, vast areas of deserts amongst which Hive Towers, containing cities inhabited by millions were growing. He moved a hand above himself touching something invisible, hard - the force field, because of which the sky was red and which reminded him that in spite of luxury he had in the building in which he lived, he actually had been a prisoner waiting for judgment of the nation. He turned to the wall and touched the panel on the door. When the door opened, he entered inside. Rann was the man with black hair and a pale complexion. He was wearing black suit and on his hands remains of implants which once enabled him the control over the technology were visible. He sat down on the sofa and looking at the hologram of mountains appearing on the wall he started musing. He had been imprisoned already for three months and the day in which he was supposed to be delivered to the League and judged was approaching rapidly. Were they going to come for him in a week, tomorrow or even today? He didn't know when exactly they would come. He was being called the savior of thousands and the murderer of millions. He led his people oppressed by the authority of his world to the fight for freedom and his victories took many lives, both on his side and on the side of his opponents. In order to win, he destroyed a few Hive Towers and it was his biggest crime. He was called a hero in one day and betrayed by the new government which he helped to form, in the other, destroyed by values forbidden in times of the tyranny, trodden down by old allies now being fanatics of the new order. He got up. He took a walk around the room. He heard the familiar motor noise of a cargo ship landing on the roof of his prison. He smiled to himself. He will finally be free, he thought. Two soldiers dressed in green uniforms and agents keeping them company went into a room. "It's time". One of them announced. Rann didn't answer him. He went voluntarily in the direction which they showed him. When he came inside the big and ugly antigravity transport ship with the shape of the container for rubbish, one of soldiers put cuffs on his hands. After the embarkation he was put behind the force field in the cell for transporting worst, genetically changed criminals. After an hour of travel, when the ship was floating above the uninhabited desert, pitch-black, slender air vehicles rushing with a huge speed toward the transport appeared on the horizon. A panic started aboard the airship, soldiers were shouting something to each other, sound of the alarm sounded, warning lamps flashed in red. Raan smiled to himself.

"Don't you want me to reveal the truth about who you really are? Even for the price of the life of your own people. You couldn't fall lower." He thought. Every of battle fliers fired two rockets at the transport airship. All of them hit the target. The intense explosion shook surroundings and the ship tumbled down into the surface leaving the black track of the smoke behind itself. Flying machines made two circles around the smoking wreck and then they turned back and very quickly flew away from the place of disaster. Raan opened his eyes. Everything was burning around him, a lot of smoke was hovering in the air. The man was hurt, but living. The cell served its purpose, it protected him from the worst. Unfortunately there was already nobody who could achieve any benefit from it. Cuffs and force field damaged during the outburst didn't fulfill their role, Raan emerged from the cell shielding the face from the smoke. Inside the wreck a remarkable heat emanated from flames and dead bodies were lying around.

"Nobody survived apart from me." The man thought and very quickly left remains of the ship. Having been on a desert he walked a few meters not thinking about anything. Instinctively he wanted to walk away from the wreck as far as possible. He looked at the smoking wreck. He was satisfied, although he knew well that he wouldn't survive a few days on the wilderness. He saw some building in the distance.

"This time you won't manage to get rid of me." He said satisfied with himself. After a few minutes of walk he reached to the old, rusting building half buried in the sand. In the vicinity the wind was moving some door which made unpleasant creaking sound. Rann moved in its direction as hypnotized. For the last time, he looked back at the wreck of the transport ship as if he wanted to say goodbye to his old life. He entered the interior of the building. It was dark, hot and really dusty. He covered a few meters examining metal walls praising the former empire and he came across the door which didn't fit to the rest of the chamber. He entered inside and found himself worlds apart. He was standing in the middle of the inn and beings from other worlds were walking around him. At first he thought that it was a holographic projection inside some local of body delights in one of Hive Towers. It crossed his mind that perhaps he still had been on the cargo ship and everything which he could see was a result of chemical and electric impulses which his guards had stuffed into him. He noticed the tall man with pale face, thick black hair and dark eyes in the black dress standing in the corner. When he looked at his eyes he already knew that everything what he could see around himself, was really happening, it wasn't an illusion, a hologram or a hallucination.

"Welcome Rann Shaner. As one of few you heard my message sent into worlds. Great changes are coming, the entire reality is in a danger. You have a choice: to stay passive to events or to help repair what was already destroyed."

**Mint **

Mint was sitting on the branch of the old tree growing on the edge of the forest clearing. She had green skirt and shirt on herself. She was young elf girl with long brown hair, she had been living in the forest since birth and never left its borders. Only a few people from her tribe traveled beyond the area of vast Forest and the ones who had done it, never talked about what they had met in the World after their return. Mint was unusually curious about what was happening far from her house, she loved to listen to legends of incredible beings living in faraway lands. Every night she mused about adventures she would experience if she managed to leave the Forest. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible for her, because of old customs amongst her people. Nobody could leave the home and come off into the World of the man or other beings without the permission of the Guardian of Forest. Mint didn't know what he looked like. He lived in the deepest part of the forests and only the oldest of priests could confer with him. The Guardian found the race of Forest Elves centuries ago and he appointed his priests for obeying his principles. Nobody could oppose him and nobody wanted, because the Forest provided elves with everything what was needed for a life. However the life of one young girl was going to change entirely that night.

"Mint! Are you there?" She heard the voice of her father. She jumped down of tree and came up to him quickly.

"Where were you again?" The tall man with long, white hair asked her.

"I was only dreaming.." The girl answered.

"About the World again? You don't even know how close your desire is to the fulfillment." Her father replied clearly demonstrating the worry.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elven girl asked.

"Come with me. You should hear it on your own. Our leader, Alar wants to see you today in the night". The elf replied. His eyes expressed sadness again. Mint had varied emotions. She was curious about the meeting with the leader and at the same time something told her that she should not meet with him. In spite of everything she listened to the father and she walked with him from the forest thicket to his house. Alar was waiting for her with two other older elves. He had long grey hair and robes which he wore only during the most important celebrations. He was standing in the clearing and torches were burning around him. One of his people signaled with hand Mint and her father to stop. Alar opened the hand to the girl.

"Come here my child". Elven girl took a few steps unsteadily, and then she stood up right by her leader. She looked at him with a big eyes.

"The Guardian started to speak to me yesterday's night. He expects your participation today". Alar smiled to Mint. His two companions were surprised. The father of the girl was frightened.

"How it is possible? From the time immemorial the Guardian is talking only to priests, and I am too young to become chosen..."

"I don't understand it either. And no law exists which would say how to behave in such a situation. Therefore we must believe in what the Guardian is saying us. And to trust him..." The old elf put his hands on the shoulders of the girl. She closed her eyes. Alar called two women which took her behind the cottage. He looked at her father which all the time was observing the whole incident being silent. It was known that he had sensed that he would never see his daughter again. Mint bathed in the lake in which the silver moon was mirrored and two women helped her to dry off and to dress up. She was ready to go to the meeting with the Guardian. She had to do it entirely alone, nobody could accompany her. For the last time she looked behind herself walking away.

"I must go. I can't help it." She thought, begrudging all desires for leaving the Forest which she had. She entered the dark thicket. As she moved deeper and deeper, it was getting blacker until at last no light could reach her. She was irritated, she was afraid that she would turn aside from the path and she would get lost. She knew that she could not retreat, because then she didn't have the right to return home. Forest wouldn't let her do it. She was walking two hours. In the end, she reached the large forest clearing on which the solitary huge tree was growing. She was tired out and achy. Stars visible again granted the place beautiful, silvery color. Mint decided to rest under the tree for a moment, she leaned against the fat trunk and closed her eyes.

"I thank you that you arrived at my call." She heard the voice reaching from everywhere.

"Who are you... Are you the Guardian of the Forest? I can't see you..." She looked around.

"I am here.

"Ah..." The girl understood that the tree was the Guardian and quickly walked away from it.

"I apologize. I didn't want to lean against you, Guardian..."

"No harm done". You are at the moment more important than I... I called you here because the World is standing on the edge of destruction. Power which can destroy entire reality turned up in it. I saw you in a dream, as one of the people who will oppose that power."

"Me? But I'm not able to cast spells well. How could I..."

"My dreams spoke the truth. You must set off to the World. You will come across things you didn't dream of, but you must survive everything. Set off on a journey".

After these words the Tree went quiet. The girl noticed that wooden stairs leading into the earth had turned up at his roots. She knew that the Guardian was inviting her, showing her the way. she went down cautiously. She thought that she was going hours, days, entire years. In the end she reached the place of her purpose. She was in an inn in which hundreds of beings gathered in order to wait for the end of the storm raging behind windows.

"This is the World". She thought looking with a fear at shapes which she didn't see even in the strangest dreams. She avoided all guests of the tavern looking at her. A few persons were standing by the fireplace, the tall man in the black dress with a pale face, thick black hair and dark eyes talked to her.

"Welcome Mint of the Forest people. As one of few you heard my message sent into the World. Great changes are coming, the entire reality is in a danger. You have a choice: to stay passive to events or to help repair what was already destroyed."

**Mats Sunder **

Mats Sunder was lying on the bed not being able to fall asleep. He was a young man of average height with brown hair and green eyes. He was looking at the ceiling thinking that as soon as he close his eyes, nightmares will appear, dreams about damage, the future full of a violence, dreams which could not leave him. The last night, he was dreaming that he together with his acquaintances hid out in the wooden house from the raging gale. He remembered the fear which appeared in his sleep, when a whirlwind rushing to his hiding place turned out to be a artificial creature, the intelligent being, burning with hatred to everything living, tornado composed, instead of the wind, from the light penetrating everything. That dream was one of the less strange he had recently. The boy struggled against the tiredness, but in the end he lost the fight and fell asleep lighted by the moonlight flowing from the opened window. After a dozen minutes he woke up and looked around. The room seemed unnatural to him, phosphorescing with silver illumination. He got up and went a few strides. A window with the wing creaking in the wind was spotted by him,. He came up to it and stuck his neck out of it. The ugly garden and the road across which the forest was emerging from the darkness were situated in a front of his house. The boy didn't believe his eyes. He noticed people running all over the garden. There was a lot of them, they all were dressed in dark clothes. Their height was small, they resembled children or hobbits. In their seemingly chaotic running one could notice certain regularities. It seemed that they were playing some game, or participating in some competition. A few of them were running there and back, as if they were trying to hide from the others in thickets. Another few were running around the house, every couple of minutes disappearing behind it and appearing on its other side. The others left the garden and it was possible to notice their figures flashing in the darkness on the nearby embankment. Mats was certain that his next strange dream was going to start. It seemed to him that when was dreaming consciously he would be able to influence the course of the dream. He decided to stay in the window. A morning was approaching and the night slowly gave in to the grayness before the daybreak. The party of short men was near the end, only some latecomers were running in front of boy's window in order to disappear somewhere between trees a few minutes later. Mats was looking as hypnotized at lamps shining above the street. He thought that spheres of light had separated from the lamp posts and they placed themselves in equal distances over the road. At some moment, he noticed that the man was going along the middle of the road. He was tall, he carried the stuffed bundle on the stick. The boy knew that he had to meet him, to talk with him. He felt that this person had some connection with his dreams. He ran from the house in shorts and shirt. He followed the mysterious stranger barefooted.

"Wait. We must talk." he screamed, but the wanderer didn't hear him. He disappeared around the bend of the road by the forest. Mats ran after him. It turned out that the stranger had vanished into the blue, as if he dissolved into thin air. The boy turned to the forest path with hope of meeting that man on it. He covered a dozen meters when he noticed the inn, wooden, old house from which sounds of some feast were coming. The boy had been living in these surroundings since childhood and he knew it like the back of his hand, but he didn't remember the inn. Full of the curiosity and fear, he crossed thresholds of the tavern. The view behind the door astonished him - hundreds of diverse beings were outshouting one another, drinking honey, wine and beer. Mats noticed a few short men from the front of his house in the crowd. He tried to spy the strange wanderer, but in a vain. Even in this unusual and bizarre place he didn't have a chance to track him down. Convinced that he was dreaming his next weird dream, he moved in the direction of the fireplace. A tall man with a pale face, thick black hair and dark eyes in the black dress riveted his eyesight.

"Welcome Mats Sunder. As one of few you heard my message sent into worlds. Great changes are coming, the entire reality is in a danger. You have a choice: to stay passive to events or to help repair what was already destroyed."

**Narea **

Narea was walking in the large temple's chamber in which pleasant coolness and semi-darkness lightened up only by the blue crystal put in the wall prevailed. The girl was dressed in dark habit, she had black hair and a pale complexion. The temple was her house and at the same time her place of employment, because Narea was the Priestess, the Guardian of the Sacred Crystal. The girl had been preparing for this role since her childhood, but a madness of her brother Narael was the real reason for which she devoted her life to look after the internal fire of crystal. He was also a priest, guardian of the crystal garden, but he let the dark side of the magic corrupt him. He betrayed the teachings which he had promised to obey and set off into the world to cause the chaos, to destroy the harmony of gardens. Narea knew that the darkness was flowing in her veins also, but she decided to never permit it to capture her heart. She decided to settle in the monastery, to meditate over herself and contemplate the irreproachable symmetry of sacred crystal. The girl stopped by the biggest stone, phosphorescing with light blue color. She touched it by the hand, she opened her mind in order to fall into the resonance with the healing vibrations of the outer space. At the moment the older woman in a habit entered the meditative room.

"Narea..." The girl reacted quickly coming up to her.

"Yes, Mother?"

" I experienced the vision during morning meditations. It concerned you. You must go on a journey as soon as possible". Narea was surprised by the words of the old priestess.

"I passed all journeys successfully. I came back as a winner from every of them. What more can I do?" "I don't know... This journey is special. You must start it even for the price of giving up the role of the minder of the crystal garden". Black-haired fell into a pensive mood. It crossed her mind that perhaps the Mother sensed the approaching darkness in her and she wanted to destroy it before it could caue damage to the church, even for the price of her live. She clenched fists. The old woman could see her anger and anxiety.

"I will go on the journey. Immediately". Narea decided. She wanted to show that this time she would control her dark nature. The woman smiled and took the girl to the room with the large mirror. She came up to it, moved her arm. The surface of the looking glass waved.

"Go. It's time." The Mother replied. Narea crossed the barrier of the mirror and she found herself in a completely different place. Forests, meadows and valleys surrounded her. From a distance a whirr of a waterfall and squawking of predatory birds were heard. The view of the beautiful nature calmed the young priestess very much. She noticed the path and she decided to check where it would lead her. She went half a day until dusk. In the end she was tired out and sat on a rock lying by the road. She heard the music coming from a distance. She turned away her head and she noticed lights of the tavern on the nearby hill. She knew that a clue concerning her further travel had to lie there. When she crossed the door of the inn, she noticed in astonishment that it had been full of guests. It was strange because during her walk the girl didn't meet a single one traveler. She was hanging around the room until at last she reached the table by the burning fireplace. There were a few people there, three men and three girls. She noticed the tall man in the black dress with a pale face, thick black hair and dark eyes.

"Welcome Narea, the Guardian of the Crystal Garden. As one of few you heard my message sent into worlds. Great changes are coming, the entire reality is in a danger. You have a choice: to stay passive to events or to help repair what was already destroyed."

**Dream of the Endless **

Lord Morpheus, member of the Endless family, tall man with a pale face, thick black hair and dark eyes dressed in the black clothes, was standing on the terrace of his palace. Suddenly his contemplations were stopped by a pain: both physical and psychological one, feeling like somebody tore the piece from his soul. Morpheus was the creator of the Dreaming, and at the same time its absolute master. He was the part of his world and the world was a part of him. When something happened to him, it had a huge impact on the entire dreaming, for example when he was sad, the entire land cried with heavy rain. On the other hand every change in his world affected his feelings. It was true during that time also, the pain which Morpheus felt was pain somebody or something inflicted on the Dreaming. The master summoned Matthew, the raven - one of his servants to himself,.

"What do you need, boss?" The bird which at one time was a man asked.

"Somebody attacked my world. You must travel to the place which I show you. It is essential to learn what we are dealing with".

The raven listened to his master and he rose high above the palace. He was flowing above forests, fields and hills full of sleeping souls and beings from their dreams. He noticed black clouds on the horizon, expanding with every passing second. He flew up closer and the view which he found chilled the blood in his veins. Huge, white worms with black heads were swarming from one of dreams, devouring and destroying everything on their road.

"I can see what is happening through your eyes." Matthew heard the voice of Morpheus in his head.

"I will soon encounter with you". After a moment the master of dreams attired in the night appeared by the bird.

"What are these things?" Matthew asked him.

"These are devourers of dreams. Devious beings which destroy the order and restore the primeval chaos where it should not be present. They are a threat to everyone of us, their one touch is fatal for both all inhabitants and guests of this world and also for myself".

"In that case what will we do?"

"One thing which is necessary in such a dramatic moment". After these words the Dream Lord closed his eyes and spread his hands. He started reciting some spell in a language know only to himself. The dream in which devourers of dreams bred started to glittering with a dazzle and after a moment it fade out into the nothingness. The worms devoid of their sustenance died . The raven looked to the Endless with a fear in his eyes.

"Lord Morpheus... Was it necessary... that dream..."

"It was lost irretrievably with all beings inhabiting it, with all dreams for the ones who needed it. I know it very well, Mateusz, but there was no other way. In order to rescue the rest of the Dreaming, such a sacrifice was necessary". Morpheus was sad very much. He killed a part of himself.

"But we defeated them, right? The threat has been overcome, ultimate victory?"

"Unfortunately not, my messenger. I am afraid that what we could see a moment ago was only a preview of all that is supposed to take place. Really black days are coming to our realm..."

"Do you know who could attack us?"

"Yes. But I will reveal it later... we will meet all at Lucien's library". Morpheus disappeared in the black fog. Raven was gliding above the emptiness in the place of the dead dream and then he moved toward the palace. The Dream lord called Lucien the librarian, raven Matthew, Mervyn with the head of the pumpkin and Nuala, the fearie being a gift for the King of Dreams from her masters. He was very calm, but his face expressed great sadness. All messages were spreading very quickly all over the world of dreams, therefore everyone assembled already knew what had happened earlier and why they were called. Their master geared up for the travel which he had to undergo and which somebody from his family already underwent ages ago, when the oldest races of the universe were still young.

"You all know what happened today. We were attacked and irretrievable destruction of the part of our land and tiny shards of dreams of all minds of the entire outer space was a price for the victory over the assailant. I guess that none of you know what kind of great danger is awaiting everyone of us. Let me tell you the story about the Awakening. The Awakening is a large power which was born in the Universe before any of the inhabited world came into the existence. Her only desire is to bring back the primeval chaos which ruled before the creation, so that the world could revive anew, wake up from a dream. It was born from nowhere, but when Endless learnt about its existence, they invented the rules. If this entity turned up in the land of one of them, the one was obliged to set off on the travel in order to stop it and to lead it into the everlasting sleep again. The Awakening turned up in Destruction's world eons ago. My brother set off on the journey, he gathered allies and with them he was able to stop it. Now it appeared in my realm and I must to set off on my own journey. My call for the help left the castle walls and it traveled to search the ones, who can answer it. Now it's time for me to start the journey. Matthew, you will be keeping me company in my trek.

"Of course, boss." The raven replied and sat down on the shoulder of the master of dreams.

"And for you, my faithful subjects I have the farewell present. I'll give you the part of the power, my power of creating and destroying dreams. If devourers of dreams turn up in our land again don't hesitate to use it. After these words Morpheus turned around and disappeared in the door leading outside his palace. Inhabitants of the Dreaming were looking at the entrance not talking to each other. Lord Morpheus finished his story. Everyone gathered by the table standing near the fireplace listened to it with a great attention. For the majority from them, events of the last night were completely absurd. The Master of Dreams caused that their minds had been interfaced with each other for a moment. Each of them got to know the name of everyone and saw the situation which took them to the place in which they were together. Dream got up from the chair and looked at the assembled group with the eyes as black as the moonless night.

"I am asking you for the last time what your choice is: to stay passive to events or to help to repair what was already destroyed?"

Alan Scott spoke first.

"I don't understand what is happening here, but I experienced strangest things. If the universe is in danger maybe I should convene the entire JSA?"

"No... this case exceeds everything what your squad was created for. Only you are chosen to set off on the journey with me because only you heard the call". Morpheus answered.

"In that case I am ready to take this challenge". GL decided.

"I never wanted to save the world. But if I'm here I'll go with you. I don't want to wake up in the middle of the desert in the old house inhabited by ghosts." Jessica announced.

"If the Guardian wants me to get to know the World, I must obey him." Mint added.

"All of it is just a one long dream. I doesn't matter what I decide, when I wake up everything will return to normal. I'm coming with you." Mats replied.

"I cannot oppose the journey given to me. I must set off with you Morpheus". Narea added. Rann and Sakiko didn't say a word. They looked at all assembled and at each other. In the end the girl broke the silence.

"Do I have a chance to meet the monster who destroyed my live?" She asked.

"I don't know, Sakiko Hayasu, only you can find the answer to that question. Irrespective of what you will choose, your life will be an everlasting search." Dream announced.

"In that case, I'm going with you." Sakiko said. Everyone looked at Rann.

"I'm going..." The man answered.

"I know that all around me is a hallucination which somebody is giving me, but I must learn why they are doing it instead of killing me on the desert". He added in his thoughts.

"You will also find the answer to this question, Rann Shaner." Morpheus replied sensing thoughts of the man.

"Before we set off, I must do the last thing preparing us for this expedition". The Master of Dreams opened his hand. From the second end of the tavern a black raven flew in and sat down on his shoulder.

"Are we going? Did they agree so quickly? Who are they?" The bird watched the assembled group with his black eyes.

"They understand that it isn't possible to escape from their destiny. Deep inside their soul they understand, that their fate would unite them sooner or later, despite they come from completely different worlds and times. And now I will come back to what I was going to make. I will create one more travel companion. Dream from my land..." Morpheus took the miniature figurine of the human skull out of his coat. He recited the ancient invocation and after a moment the man with white hair, pale complexion and in the sunglasses appeared by him.

"Was it sensible?" The raven asked.

"It was necessary. Don't be afraid. This Corinthian isn't the same spoiled nightmare which caused so much damage in the world of awakened. This time he is obeying us entirely". The Dream and his new creature moved in the direction of the door to the tavern's back. Members of his team, still not trusting the Endless, each other, everything what surrounded them and what their senses delivered to their minds, followed them obediently. Very mysterious and disreputable couple was sitting by the table standing in the part of the inn plunged into darkness, the man with blonde, long hair and beard and young girl with black hair and purple eyes. Both of them had hoods put on their heads. They were watching Morpheus and his companions all the time.

"It's time for us..." The bearded man said.

"Are you sure?..."

"Yes, we must move before their track fades". They peeled off from the table leaving not entirely emptied tankards of ale behind themselves. They headed towards the exit of the inn not looking back.

In completely different world and time, bare stone circles, being remains after the temple destroyed a long time ago, were standing motionless amongst hills covered with meadows. Thousands of years before a beautiful, huge city was built in the place of these meadows in which a large temple raised in honor of Gods and the magic ruling the land was the central point. After those times nothing remained apart from large rocks wiped off by winds and rains, but in spite of it deep inside one of rocks a soul of the dead god of this land was sleeping. It was dreaming its eternal dream about the lost power: rain falling from the sky and lightings striking every couple of minutes... Armies of monks reciting invocations from books older than the world... priest clad in gold raising hands up... shouts of faithful and crying of a few persons... of young girls assigned as the sacrifice for their god... Emotions of all people filled Fallax with the power, prayers and human victims filled him with the eternal life and supernatural abilities thanks to which he could rule over priests and the entire land with an iron fist. It was like this, when his last believers still lived. Thousands of years after he had been forgotten entirely, he was only a weak being waiting for the death. The dream about the former power was the only thing that remained him after the times of his magnificence. Fallax, took the form of the man and he relished victims meant for him. Suddenly a woman with a pale complexion and wings as black as the night appeared in his sleep. Attired in the fog she was floating above the surprised god.

"Fallax... you fell down so low, that you are able to live only in dreams?"

"Who are you and why are you bothering me during the rest?"

"I am the only person who can restore your former magnificence and cause that you will be inflicting terror and respect again!"

"Don't make fun of me woman, whoever you are. You know well that without believers I am helpless. My worship died a long time ago, the same as the soul of the world in which I was born".

"What died can be woken up. Your world can live anew again!"

"Do you have power great enough to make it?"

"No, but with your help I can find it". The woman stood up in front of Fallax spreading her black wings.

"What do you want in exchange, woman?"

"Your dream... its clean psycho energy". She extended a hand toward the man.

"I agree." Fallax said and closed his eyes. Everything around him started to fade out into nothingness: Priest, monk's, faithful and young girls. The city surrounding the temple also disappeared leaving only stone circles and meadows touched by the wind plunged in the darkness of night,. The woman consumed the dream which assumed the form of the sphere of white light. She gave her hand to Fallax and they both disappeared in a blue flash.

"And don't call me woman. I am the Awakening".

The group assembled by Morpheus was in the basement stinking of the mustiness full of barrels with various beers. The Master of Dreams was standing by the big wooden door and he tried to open it with the help of the key.

"What is behind this door?" Jessica asked.

"The Dreaming. Only staying in the world created by myself, I will be able to give you the power big enough to confront with the Awakening".

"Now we cannot even move from this place." Sakiko added.

"The patience is a virtue. Remember about this Sakiko Hayasu. Crossing the gate between worlds is difficult, even in the place in which all realities are crossed".

"If we are going to sit here for a while, perhaps we should open some barrel?" Matts offered.

"It's ready. I invite you to my kingdom." Dream announced opening the door.

The team entered the gate and they disappeared on its other side. The mysterious couple from the tavern emerged from the darkness. They opened other door which appeared nearby Morpheus' one. They went through it into the unknown.

The group of people chosen by the King of Dreams was on an underground station. They weren't talking with each other because they were too excited with everything what was happening around them. After a few minutes the train arrived - it was black steam engine. It stopped precisely in the place in which the Master of Sleeping Legions was standing. Matts looked at Jessica.

"Steam engine below the ground?"

"Don't ask me..." The girl replied.

"Don't give thoughts to the logic of dreams. Simply accept it as it is". Morpheus announced entering the train. All of people followed him. The locomotive was rushing through imaginary lands with the remarkable speed. It passed forests whispering legends of non-existent heroes and clearings on which bright, naked girls were dancing. It travelled across areas of the forgotten Atlantis, mists of Avalon and beautiful meadows of Tir na Nog. Dragons were flying over the train and unicorns were running on forest clearings.

"I'm feeling like I was stoned." Matts announced.

"The World is a beautiful place." Mint said delighted with views. The train entered into the tunnel and it dashed off towards the centre of the Earth. After minutes of the ride it was in the Lost World, where dinosaurs still reigned. The flying reptile dashed off toward the machine with the intention of attacking it. Alan Scott pointed his ring at the creature.

"My sensors are detecting nothing!" Rann shouted looking at the computer on his arm.

"Green Lantern. Leave your weapon." Dream said. The large pterodactyl dissolved into thin air.

"It isn't possible to be hurt by the creature which was created by your own power". The group got to the dream of some other man, the train became huge XVI-century galleon being adrift on a storm-tossed sea. Morpheus was standing on the bow of the ship and he was looking at stars. His bird Matthew was sitting on his shoulder and Corinthian went up on the crow's nest. Jessica was looking at the ocean.

"It's remarkable. I know that it's a dream and in spite of it I smell the sea, its humidity..."

"Be pleased that you didn't catch seasickness," Matts taunted her.

"I've never seen it... sea." Mint announced.

I've seen this before, but it's not a pleasant memory." Narea added.

"Remarkable... water-powered ship using the force of the wind for moving." Rann found the ship very interesting. Sakiko was looking at the distance not butting in conversations. Alan Scott came up to her.

"It is hard for you, right? If you want we can talk about it".

"I'm sure that it will be better, if we don't get acquainted. I'm not who you think I am".

"You would be surprised what kind of people I know".

The sky became dark and a storm broke out. Ship started to be shaken by waves and the lighting were striking above its sails.

"It isn't natural, boss!" Matthew screamed.

"I know, I would feel every change of the dreamscape. It is something unnatural. Listen everyone! We must stick together! We cannot let anything separate us! The living being cannot move in the Dreaming if he isn't sleeping! He would never find the road to the waking world."

A huge figure of the woman with large black wings and long hair appeared on the sky. She was keeping the ball of the light in hands. After a moment white worms with black heads got out of her body. There were thousands of them and all of them were flying in the direction of Morpheus' ship. They fell into the water and but they were still rushing in the same direction. When they hit the body of the ship, they pierced it entirely. The ship started drowning slowly and worms devoured it from inside. Morpheus looked at the sphere kept by the woman. He knew that it was a dream of somebody powerful and it was the source of larvae destroying everything. He was staring at its flickering glitter. Worms were closer and closer to the deck and the black-haired woman laughed out loud floating in the air above the raging element. Members of the team looked at each other with fear. The space around them started distorting and everything was absorbed by overwhelming white emerging from the bullet. In completely different world and time, bare stone circles, being remains after the temple destroyed a long time ago, were standing motionless amongst hills covered with meadows. Thousands of years before a beautiful, huge city was built in the place of these meadows in which a large temple raised in honor of Gods and the magic ruling the land was the central point. After those times nothing remained apart from large rocks wiped off by winds and rains, At their foot nine unconscious persons gathered by the Master of Dreams were lying. And the ancient god full of anger, woke up from his long dream.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

There was a late night and the silver moon obscured partly by the layer of clouds was shining above forests. The slight wind was touching meadows which were humming their characteristic, monotonous rustle, while hooting of nocturnal birds were heard from a distance. Ruins standing on the hill, blackened by the night sky seemed darker and more monumental than by a day. The team of people gathered by the sulky fate were slowly awakening after the forced walk through the unknown dreamscapes. Alan Scott shook his cape from a grass and lightening the path with green light of the ring, he moved to search his companions. After a few steps he found Sakiko and Jessica. The first girl was sitting on the stone looking at stars glittering here and there through clouds. She was disorientated. Unconscious Jessica was lying by her feet. Alan approached young women. Sakiko reacted instinctively defending her companion. Scott lighted her face with the ring. The girl calmed down and slowly came up to him.

"I'm sorry. My senses didn't get used to this place. It's so different from my world. Full of life and at the same time so empty..." The girl said.

"My ring isn't able to categorize it also... what about her?" Alan pointed at Preview.

"She's all right. Her organism isn't recuperating as quickly as mine..."

"What about the rest of us?"

"I feel all of them. They're alive... They are nearby, but they didn't wake up". Black-haired girl announced dispassionately. In other part of the forest clearing Mint was kneeling by unconscious Narea. Her face expressed concern for the life of the companion. She rested her hands on her breast and immediately a delicate lighting appeared around her. Elf girl started reciting spell in her ancient ancestors language. Narea moved and opened her eyes.

"So warm, pleasant..." She whispered. Mint was glad that her healing charm had worked. After a few moment Matts loomed from bushes into the view. Illumination of elf girl brought him to the place in which girls stayed.

"Are you in one piece? Don't you know what happened to the rest?" He asked shaking off from leaves.

"No. Only we are here..." Mint answered coming up to him.

"I'm completely disorientated. The life of this World is so different from my Forest. I'm not able to ask protective spirits of trees and meadows to show me where I'm supposed to search our team".

"Don't be upset girl, can you see this green flash in the distance?" The boy pointed his finger at the place where the lighting appeared.

"It's certainly this older guy in the cape. Let us walk to him!" Elf came up to the priestess raising her from the earth.

"Can you go?" She asked with worry in the voice.

"Yes, I'm fine... thank you for everything". Three of them moved in the direction of the signal of Alan Scott's ring. After a few minutes of the road they met with the second group. Jessica was conscious and she was coming to her senses sitting on the stone. Matts quickly came up to her.

"Are you in one piece?" She asked.

"I'm feeling as if I was in thousands of pieces. I have a headache... I cannot concentrate on anything..."

"Somebody is missing..." Narea announced looking all around.

"Rann and Morpheus and his helpers." Sakiko replied.

"Nice, the one who caused all of this disappeared!"

"Wait, somebody is approaching!" Green Lantern warned them pointing the ring at the figure moving in the shadows. As it turned out the stranger was Rann Shaner.

"We have a big trouble! Walk with me!" The man screamed showing stone ruins in the distance.

"What happened?" GL asked.

"Some strange man is gearing himself up to kill Morpheus!"

The team quickly arrived at the foot of the destroyed temple. The tall man with long hair as purple as the night, dressed in the flimsy, dark dress was standing on one of rocks. In one hand he was holding robes of the unconscious Master of Dreams and the second one prepared to give him the death blow. His eyes were full of hate, frenzy and unhealthy desire.

"What are we doing?" Jessica asked.

"We must help him..." Alan replied.

"But how, if this guy defeated the being with the divine power?" Sakiko asked rhetorically. In the same moment in heads of everyone sounded words of Master of Dreams.

"Don't be afraid. Fallax is a false god who was forgotten ages ago. The Awakening unnaturally restored him to life. Fallax has the power over my body only because she gave him the soul of his own dream, part of my land. And every dream is a fragment of me. He does not have such a strong power over you. Attack now, as long as he still has not regained the total control over the newly given life."

"You heard the guy!" Matts shouted.

"Loud and clear!" Alan added. He produced the bundle of green light which was formed into huge hand. Using its help, he shook Morpheus out of the hug of the angry god and moved him into the safe place.

"Who dares to disturb my peace!" Fallax jumped down from the stone. He noticed six persons standing before him. Scott attacked him with the stream of green fire but the man defended himself producing the protective magic shield. Narea took glistening, blue, sharp crystal out of her bag. Reciting the invocation, she threw it at the opponent. The shield fell apart into small pieces after contact with the magic item. Furious Fallax started throwing energy discharges at members of the team.

"If only he stopped..." Rann said.

"It can be done!" Mint informed and her body glowed with white light. Two huge roots materialized under feet of the man. They wrapped up around his legs, effectively immobilizing him. Shanner touched panels on his glove and he pointed it at Fallax. Body of long-haired man was paralyzed by the strong electric charge.

"Time to finish him!" Sakiko announced with unnaturally sounding voice. Vampire teeth fleshed in her mouth and her eyes became red. The girl jumped to the stunned opponent and slapped him in the face using entire power accessible to her. Fallax was thrown toward the monolith and hit it very heavily. The stone glowed with blue color and shattered to pieces, burying the evil god under itself. After a moment, Corinthian holding big knife in his hand appeared out from nowhere. His eyes hidden behind the sunglasses looked at Jessica and Matts who were holding the seriously injured King of Dreams.

"Take him farthest from this place. Travelling so close to the woken up dream influences destructively on his human avatar. You who have the power, escape from here also..." When everyone walked away in order to protect the only person who was able to get them back home, Corinthian moved in the direction of the smashed obelisk.

"And what about you?" Alan asked.

"I have one more thing to do". The man replied smiling ominously. Green Lantern was looking at his direction, but when the living nightmare disappeared in the black of the night, Alan rose above the meadow and joined his companions going down the hill. Corinthian bent over Fallax lying in the rubble. He raised his head by hair and put the blade of the knife on it.

"Eyes of the god... I have always been interested how such a being sees the world..." He laughed loudly, disturbing the peace hanging above the entire land.

The group walked away to the nearby forest. Under crowns of numerous trees, the black of the night seemed even blacker than on the extensive hills around the temple. Each member of the team felt relax and lack of irritation which accompanied them in the vicinity of ruins, where they had a fight with their first opponent. Mint was the happiest from everyone, because the tangle in which she was, reminded her of her house, the Forest. Girl not waiting for others collected dry branches lying close by and prepared the bonfire. Everyone sat down on stones and fat roots of trees sticking out of the earth. They were looking with a concern at Morpheus who was slowly regaining consciousness and the power over his body. Elf girl kneeled at him with the intention of healing him, but the man stopped her hand.

"Don't do it, child of the Forest. You are exhausted and the magic cultivated by your people for centuries isn't able to fathom out secrets of the being belonging to the Endless family". Mint sat down on the rotten stump of the fallen tree. The group were looking at the burning flame of the bonfire in a silence. Mats Sunder first lost the patience. He stood up in front of the Master of dreaming.

"Will you finally explain us where we are? How we get here and who was this guy who attacked us? And most important... when the hell will we get back home?"

"I also want to know answers to these questions." Rann Shaner added.

"We all want." Jessica finished.

"You are very impatient and it can be a cause of your defeat. But this is a nature of beings, whose life is only a brief lapse in the eternity. You were gathered together, because you heard my call. It was your fate to go on a journey to my land and to face up with the Awakening there. It is your task now, but the fate complicated the road for you. Our enemy acted more quickly than we expected. Exploiting the power coming from the dream of the false god, it stopped our journey expelling us from the Dreaming. We are not able to come back the same road we arrived here, because it does not exist anymore, turned by the Awakening into Devourers created from the nothingness of Dreams. Answering your first question Mats Sunder, we are in Alaria, the world which was vibrant with a magic at one time. Unfortunately the short-sightedness of beings living here led to the disaster after which all magic was destroyed and forbidden forever. Fallax who we met, was one of ancient priests of the magic who reached the divinity. He was one of the ones who brought the annihilation to this world ages ago and who was put to sleep so that the tragedy never happens again. But now the Awakening gave him the second chance. Probably not for free, because prices of this being are high.

"But we defeated him, right?" Sakiko asked.

"Yes, temporarily... and my servant probably made him something you do not even want to know about. But he will never be defeated, if we do not remove the brand of the Awakening from this world, I cannot answer your final question..."

"Namely we're imprisoned here?" Black-haired girl continued.

"The road by which we arrived here was irretrievably destroyed. My old acquaintance, last of magi from this land can give us the only possibility of the return. Finding him can be very difficult or maybe impossible..."

"But we have to try. Right away." Sunder announced.

"The journey is long and you are exhausted. You must spend a night on the rest. Tomorrow we will set off farther. There are still many things concerning the world in which you are that you must know ".

Meanwhile the couple from the tavern was looking around at the foot of the ancient temple. The girl kneeled by the smashed stone looking at tracks of the blood shimmering with colors.

"They had a fight, they must be nearby..." She said.

"However they didn't emerge victorious. Their opponent lives, although he will be curing himself of sustained wounds."

"Yes... Are we supposed to search him?"

"No, we are worn out. We must move to seek accommodation". The bearded man decided.

"As you wish". Black-haired girl answered.

Jessica was standing in the middle of the little forest clearing looking at the sky on which myriads of stars gathered into the fanciful shimmering constellations, completely different from the ones which the girl knew from her own experience. Matts came up to her.

"It's magnificent, don't you think?"

"Yes, I just recalled one chat with my friend..."

"In my world the night sky is dark and boring. The lighting of the city in which I live doesn't allow to see stars" The boy announced.

"Exactly... but where I come from, sky isn't as beautifully as here even in the complete remote place far from the city. Here it looks like the entire sky is singing some magic song by its light. I would like to sink in it..." black-haired girl replied.

"Yes... I know what you feel..."

Jessica closed her eyes and suddenly her mind was flooded by the vision. She was alone amongst stars forming the Milky Way on which the man with hair tied in a pony tail and holding a bundle was travelling. The girl quickly shook the hallucination off.

"What is with you? Your mind was somewhere a long way from here..."

"How to explain you... you know, I'm having visions of things which are supposed to come. I saw some guy with the bundle.."

"With the bundle? With red hair tied in a pony tail? Damn it! I've been dreaming of this guy since childhood..."

"Perhaps we'd better lie down to sleep. I'm feeling strange". Preview announced quickly going to the place where the bonfire was burning. The boy moved after her.

Rann was sitting on the big stone. He was touching keys on his glove and the hologram showing stars of the universe from which the black-haired man came appeared before him. Alan Scott was looking at the visualization with the interest.

"Is it the star system from which you come?"

"Yes. It's the part of the Galaxy we know. I'm trying to determine our place... in a vain. Local stars don't resemble what I have in the memory of the computer. Values of correlation are exactly like for the random noise, zero probabilities of coming across the familiar region of the space".

"It means that we're farther, than you suppose".

"Exactly... we are in the Uncharted Territories or in some distant Galaxy".

"There is one more possibility.." Lantern replied raising his ring. After a moment the visualization of the map of the Universe drawn up by ring appeared. The computer inside of the ring wasn't able to categorize the sky above heads of men to some sectors of space in its memory. After a moment Alan ordered the ring to compare maps: its own and belonging to Shaner, without success, because the computer hasn't found resemblance other than resulting from the random configurations of stars once again.

"... which is more and more probable.. We are in completely different reality".

"And what is happening is far bigger than us..." Rann completed.

Narea, Mint and Sakiko were sitting at the bonfire. Elf was feeling the best, because the closeness of trees gave her power to live. The girl told Narea about the event that brought her to the place. Black-haired girl was surprised by the resemblance of friend's story to her own, coming from completely different world. Sakiko was sitting in a silence, embracing herself by arms. She was very pale and shivers were shaking her body. She was looking at dancing flames trying to focus on them her entire attention. After the certain time Narea and Mint lay down to sleep in the bonfire's vicinity. The female vampire didn't join them. Elf noticed that the girl was shaking with cold.

"Sakiko... Are you feeling bad?" She asked.

"Yes, but don't be upset with me. You must get enough sleep".

"But you're shivering. If you are cold, come up to us. Together we'll warm ourselves up..."

"No! I don't want! I'll manage somehow!" The girl answered with an effort.

"You don't look healthy..." Mint wanted to come to her.

"I'm fine, really!" Sakiko got up and move a few steps away from girls.

"Maybe my treatment can help you?"

"No! Go to sleep... I... I'd better go from here... I must... move away... quickly..." Sakiko quickly left the bonfire and she disappeared in nearby thickets. When she walked away from the camp she stopped. She was unusually pale, she was breathing with difficulty.

"Hunger... so strong... because of the contact with this Fallax..." After a moment of peace she moved farther. She knew very well, that if she traveled close to her companions she could become a threat for them. She was waiting for the end of the night in the complete loneliness.

The consecutive day began for the squad very early. They had to be on legs right after the appearance of the sun above the horizon, since a long way to the city awaited them. The Dream lord wanted to gather everyone together around himself, because he had to tell them important details about the world. Sakiko was nowhere to be seen. Mint and Narea tried to track her down without a success. She didn't come back to the camp and Morpheus sent raven Matthew to look for her.

"We must reach the city today. Then I will be able to uncover how I can find a friend of mine I knew a long time ago. As I recalled, the world in which we are carry huge scars which the magic set on it centuries ago. Everything that was magical was destroyed by its inhabitants and if anything new, carrying the magic turns up in it now, it will also be detected and removed forever. It concerns also you" He pointed his finger at Mint and Narea.

"Hide your crystal deep, Guardian of the Garden. And you, you cannot show your ears, Child of the Forest". Elf girl touched the pointed ear. She corrected hair.

"You also, Green Lantern from the Earth, you must hide your ring. Even if it isn't a sign of the magic, by inhabitants of this world can and will be recognized as such. It also concerns your technology Rann Shaner". Matts prodded Jessica.

"Probably we're the only ones here who can feel safe". He announced.

"Yes... but when they learn about my visions..."

"Or about my dreams. They'll burn us on stakes". The girl laughed.

"Don't waste time for unnecessary jokes". Lord Morpheus said.

"And how can you appear in the city? With the paleness, in these black garments..." Matts asked.

"My appearance is dependent on who is observing. The one who does not want the magic in his life he will not see makings of it in my person." Morpheus explained.

"Useful ability..." The boy commented.

"This path will lead you to the main route to the small town. Do not turn aside from it because in these thick forests it is possible to get lost easily." Dream advised the team.

"And you, Master of Dreams?" Alan Scott asked.

"I must seek out and get the last of you." Morpheus replied disappearing behind the huge oak. "Sakiko..." Mint whispered.

Dream reached the edge of the precipice. He looked at the forest stretching out below expecting his messenger back. He extended a hand sensing that the black bird will appear in a minute. Matthew rushed out from bushes and sat down on the hand of his man.

"Did you track her down Matthew?"

"Yes... but my words aren't getting through to her. She's standing over the chasm, She's ignoring me, she doesn't want to return".

"In that case I have to personally meet with her." The master of dreams replied and he headed quietly like the morning fog in the direction shown him by Mathew. Sakiko was standing on the edge of the precipice and the wind was blowing her hair behind which she hid her face. Lord Morpheus approached her with a saunter. The girl didn't turn around, she clenched fists.

"You'd better not come up to me at the moment. I'm on hunger and it can end for you badly". Dream moved the hand toward the girl.

"The coating which you can see is only a manifestation of concepts rooted in the awareness of the living beings of the Universe. There is not even a drop of substance which you desire now in this body". The female vampire hesitated, but in the end, she broke and turned away to the black-haired man.

"Indeed... I smell nothing." She wiped tears flowing down her cheek.

"What are you doing here alone, on the edge of the land? It's time to move forward". Dream asked.

"I'm thinking whether to finish my journey here. Once and forever".

"The mission was given to you, do you want to resign from it?"

"You're a god, or something similar and you can't see who I really am? I'm a threat to your squad! I'm threat for the mission and everyone who is unfortunate to be in my companion! Did you know what happened, when I felt hunger! I really wanted to cut the throat of some of these girls. I'm a monster and it should lie in your business to be as far away from me as possible!"

"You are the important person in the future of lands. Therefore you heard my call".

"And you're a bloody egoist". The irritated girl replied.

"You are describing yourself". The Master of Dreams said calmly. Sakiko went quiet.

"I know the truth about you and your psyche. The truth you are afraid to accept. You are afraid to tell them the truth about who you are, you think that they will turn away from you and they will start to hate you. You are afraid of a solitude in which you stride every day. Cannot you see that they all are also hiding the darkness in their souls? Rann Shanner did things of which you did not dream in the worst nightmares and the maltreated Jessica Vale's psyche was the largest power in the Universe some time ago. And what you did in your life Sakiko?"

"Before I was... bitten... I lived as an ordinary girl".

"And after your transformation?"

"I'm spending life at night hunting beings which are threatening innocent people".

"And do you consider yourself a monster because of that? Do you think that your journey does not make sense? Do you think that you should finish it?" Black-haired didn't know how to answer.

"Think what would happen if you chose the death when you learnt about your transformation. How many persons would suffer, when nobody came to their rescue?"

"Ok, you proved your arguments. And I'm feeling better. I'll come back with you to the team. But under one condition".

"What is your condition, Sakiko Hayasu?"

"If I'm a threat to anybody from the team, you will kill me without hesitation".

"I promise, Sakiko Hayasu". The Morpheus moved toward the route. Sakiko followed him. They both joined the rest of the group soon. Mint and Narea seeing approaching Sakiko were glad. Alan Scott was nowhere to be seen, but Corinthian returned to the group. Green Lantern appeared above the forest, surrounded with green flame. He slowly descended on the route.

"The buildings are close by, but we cannot travel in such clothes".

Alan lifted the hand above the head, the green flame engulfed his uniform and the body. The dress of the man was replaced by plain brown trousers and the brown shirt. Green glitter grew dim.

"I can do such a trick for myself, but keeping the illusion for all of you would be too energy-intensive for the ring". Corinthian came out.

"Since there are buildings close by, we can find the pair of clothes for all of us". He suggested.

"And won't your appearance be arousing suspicions?"

"I am, similarly to my lord, a dream. People can see in me only what they want to see". Alan turned to the others.

"We'll go with Corinthian to the village for some clothes. Then we'll be able to continue our travel".

"Very well, Alan Scott. Safe journey". Morpheus said.

"I hope that I won't have to dress anything dirty and with fleas." Jessica said.

"Every vermin is killed in the brilliance of black crystal. We deal with dirt in robes in our church this way." Narea announced.

"Ok, I'll take this crystal from you".

Green Lantern and Corinthian was walking along the road surrounded by plains covered with grass. Barking of the dog was heard from a distance which meant that the village about which Alan Scott had spoken was nearby. Men didn't talk with themselves. Green Lantern had been looking at his companion every couple of minutes. A strange smile stuck to the Corinthian's face puzzled him.

"One case is puzzling me..." He asked.

"What?"

"What happened after we had left you one-on-one with Falax?"

"Better don't know about it".

"Namely, did you kill him?"

"No, there was no benefit in it... he is marked by the Awakening. We don't know what could be triggered in him after the death. He could come back even more powerful. I hurt him in other way". "And I don't want to know how?"

"So... but thanks to him I saw the world with the eyes of the god". Corinthian finished mending black glasses and smiling more widely. Alan wanted to learn more, but the man hushed him up.

"Somebody is approaching".

"Welcome!" The bald bearded man going along the road cried out.

"Welcome." Alan answered.

"Your faces are not familiar to me, wanderers. What does invite you to our surroundings?"

"We are... we are merchants..."

"Strange... Are you merchants and you don't have goods with yourselves? Where are your carts? What are you selling?"

"We... Our caravan was attacked. We managed to escape. They took our goods away from us". Alan quickly found the reply to his question.

"Robbers in these surroundings? It's so bad recently. When old Zibo from the Tower was looking after us it was much calmer here. But he was taken out by Guards and then he died in the iron maiden, poor man". Bearded man stopped talking as if he was afraid of something.

"But of course, he deserved it. In the end he was practicing the magic, the old fossil". He added after a moment with an unnatural vote.

"I invite you to our inn... tell the owner, that old Tomus is sending you. He'll certainly give you both the beverage and the space for the rest after adventures".

"Thank you, you're a really good person". Green Lantern answered.

"Be well!" The bearded man moved farther in his own direction.

"We're setting off to the village". Alan informed Corinthian.

"We go to the bar". Corinthian was irritated.

"Not now. We must find a way to pay them for the shelter. We won't be lying to these people again. They are so nice for us".

"In that case we won't go far in our mission".

"Principles which we cannot break exist, even if this world isn't ours and it's ruled by other laws". irritated Alan announced.

"If you think so, this Awakening will win and the following morning we'll wake up in a world without the rules."

Alan quickened the pace, he refused to talk with Corinthian. The nightmare smiled more widely mending his glasses.

"You irritate me grandpa." He said to himself.

"I will know how it is to look at the world with the eyes overfilled with the Green Flame". He added in thoughts licking his lips. After a dozen minutes of the travel men reached the little village. Wooden houses amongst which men, women and children were bustling about, were standing along muddied streets. The normal life lasted in the settlements undisturbed with outside problems. People stopped working seeing travelers from other part of the land. Fat women smiled to them with toothless mouths and small children followed their step.

"They're looking at us as if they've never seen anybody beside their neighbors." Alan said.

"They think that we have some goods with ourselves, most probably merchants visit these surroundings not very often".

"In my world such a greeting isn't common". Green Lantern replied.

"Who said that what we can see was is a greeting? Appearances can be deceptive. A tribe exists in the Taar land which accepts every traveler to the feast, they serve drinks and victuals dearest to them, only to kill them like pigs after five days and eat them in honor of the god which they believe in. Groups living in town-islands on Kurios never release their guests, since they believe that with their departure souls of their ancestors thanks to which town-islands float on the surface of over-ocean would escape. Desert people from Maronis lure travelers by houses of debaucheries and later sell them to hunters of the bone marrow paddling in hot sand. In this way they avoid their invasion on their own cities..."

"All right! I know what you wanted to say. I'm vigilant all the time, but I don't think that we are threatened by some danger coming from hands of these people".

"I'm having high hopes that we are..." Corinthian replied looking into big, blue eyes of little girl going by him. Both men accessed deep into the village and they were on little marketplace. The place was exceptionally crowded, noisy and dirty. Peasants searching for various products were walking all around and fat sellers were outshouting one another trying to encourage people to buy their products. Children dressed in old stripped off clothing were chasing one another all over the entire square throwing stones at themselves and spitting on each other. Man with black moustache was driving them off his shop with a stick, swearing and getting red-faced with an anger. Alan went to the place in which clothes were being sold and his companion was looking from under the sunglasses at faces of children smeared with mud observing him with an interest. At some point Green Lantern stopped pointing his finger at market placed deep inside the square in which two older women were selling clothes. Sellers smiled at the sight of new clients coming up to them and immediately they approached them starting touting their goods. Alan calmly inspected all offered clothes. There was nothing special in them, they all looked the same - weak quality fabric and additives of animal leather here and there. The man politely asked how much he had to pay for 6 pieces of the plainest trousers and shirts, but when he heard the price, the nightmare in the human skin interrupted his conversation. He showed the women his empty hand and they rapidly came to him taking the non-existent moneybag with a gold from him with a distinct joy. Smiling widely to women and then to Green Lantern, the man took clothes and he started walking away from the department in order to be outside the marketplace as soon as possible. Scott followed him, being clearly dissatisfied. When Corinthian ignored his words, he got his hands on his shoulder trying to stop him. In the same moment the nightmare gave him a look of pure hatred.

"Take this hand, or else you will lose it!" He shouted upset.

"What did you do to these women?" Alan asked with a raised vote.

"I gave them what they had dreamt of in that moment!" Corinthain replied euphorically.

"You gave them nothing! You cheated them!"

"I gave them the dream which they can touch. There is no difference between dreams and reality for me. They will be dreaming, that they have the moneybag with a gold to the end of their days, they should be grateful to me. And apart from that, how was we supposed to get these clothes?"

"We don't act this way! It's not important where we are, we don't act this way!" Alan filled himself with an anger, he grasped the shirt of the man and he hit the wall of the old, wooden cottage standing close by with him. The ring on his hand shone with a green flame. Corinthian didn't say a word, but a broad smile didn't disappear from his face. After the short time Green Lantern calmed down and he let his companion go.

"Let us come back to the group." He announced and quickened the pace in order not to travel in the close company of Corinthian. The nightmare was looking at the man with contentment, simultaneously noticing something in the darkness between two wooden cottages. Some short, bald man with big nose and round bulging eyes was standing there. His face expressed fear, concern and simultaneously fascination.

"Magic... magic..." The stranger whispered having glitter of the green flame which got out of the ring of the man a few minutes in his thought.

Meanwhile in the completely different time and place the older woman which accompanied Sakiko during the beginning of her journey, reached to the round forest clearing in the middle which the statue as black as the night rising above tips of trees growing around all stood.

"You won't go farther, I won't let you!" A booming voice reaching from the statue and from everywhere around sounded.

"I will find him, because it is a unique chance for reality!" announced the older woman.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Alan Scott and the servant of Morpheus keeping him company came back to the place in which the rest of the team were awaiting them. Clothes bought in not very honest way were handed out to everyone who needed them. GL, avoiding the contact with Corinthian told his group what he learnt in the nearby town.

"People are really hospitable here. One of local peasants offered us spending the time in the inn. I think that we should go there".

"Of course". Matts replied.

"That's good news. Everyone got hungry". Mint said.

"I've learnt something more". Alan directed his words at the Master of Dreams.

"Yes, Alan Scott?"

"There is some tower inside which the man looking after this village used to live in the past. He was called Zibo and he died, because people discovered that he had been associated with black magic usage".

"This information can be particularly essential, Green Lantern of Earth. When you refresh yourselves in the tavern, some of us will go to this place under the cover of the night. Perhaps the magic have not disappear from here entirely." Morpheus announced. The group set off into the route to the village.

In the same time, another couple of travellers came out of hiding in the forest thicket - the woman and the man who followed tracks of the team gathered by Morpheus from the beginning of their unusual expedition. Their faces covered hoods and clothes were covered by capes.

"Could you hear their conversation?" The bearded man asked.

"Yes, every detail". The girl replied.

"The tower of the magic belonging to this Zibo at one time. There, the quest for ancient artefacts stolen and maybe lost from worlds of Endless will begin. Exactly as my golden globe sleeping in the Chamber of Twilight foretold. Bright lines will led us to this place, we will find there what is so important for you, my beloved".

"I didn't want this thing so much to expose you to the perilous travel". The girl answered looking at the face of her companion.

"The mechanism of our travel started moving at the moment, when I asked the golden globe for an advice. Nothing can stop its motion now, we must travel our road until the end." The bearded man replied. Two of travellers followed the path toward the village.

Morpheus' group found the tavern being one of the first buildings of the village. As it turned out there was no large crowd inside, probably because there was still a day outside and such places were usually coming to life after duskfall. Everyone was differently admiring views inside the inn. Jessica never had the custom to walk to pubs and discos, therefore she wanted to consume something as soon as possible and go to more private and desolate place. Matts Sunder concurred with her. Rann Shanner visited a lot of suspected places full of beings from the deepest nooks of the galaxy in his life, therefore a few cutpurses' eyes did no impression on him. Narea preferred silence and the solitude but Mint was interested in everything which surrounded her and she was looking all around with the curiosity. Alan tried to protect all members of the team particularly the youngest people. Sakiko Hayasu was horrified with the fact that she was in a place in which she could become the victim of her hunger of blood again. It turned out that messages were spreading all over the village unusually fast, because the innkeeper knew about the meeting of Alan with Tomus and that Scott had disguised himself as the travelling merchant, whose caravan was attacked by highland robbers. Bearded fat man after having a word with Green Lantern, ordered his companions to take the place at the table and he prepared the warm food for them, of course at his own expense, because he dreamt that when the travelling merchants visit his home areas next time, they will certainly repay him. Sakiko was the only person who didn't take the place by the table. The girl asked the owner of the inn to show her the room in which she could spend the next night as soon as possible. She knew that she would have to isolate herself from the rest of the group once again, her hunger for blood grew larger with approaching of the dusk. Behavior of the young female vampire surprised Mint who wanted to learn what was going on and help the girl somehow.

"Perhaps I'll go to her?" She asked Narea sitting by her.

"Leave her alone, if she wants the help she will ask for it". Matts answered her.

"She cannot cope with what happened to her so far. We also have a hard time acepting it, but we are pulling ourselves together just by being together, right?" Narea replied.

"Perhaps she prefers to fight with her internal demons in a solitude". She added after a moment.

"Do you know what we're going to find inside the tower of that magus?" Alan asked Morpheus sitting close by.

"I don't know, Alan Scott. When I am inside the Tower, I will perhaps sense calling of some artefact forgotten a long time ago, perhaps not all of them died in this world. If some of them still lives, it means that its creator or the owner is alive also. We will go to him and we will ask for help."

"I have one question..." Matts butted in.

"Yes? What do you want to know, Matts Sunder?"

"You kidnapped us from different worlds, diffeent Universes... I can't embrace it by my own mind... you have large powers, divine powers... why we're going to some village, we're sitting in the inn... we're supposed to search ruins for some rubbish. You cannot, for example, snap your fingers and move us to some other world, where somebody who can help us lives?"

"If this was so simple... as the Master of Dreams, during my journeys through waked worlds I am using the bodily coating which everyone can see with their own senses, can communicate with it in the way familiar to themselves. Simultaneously I have the continuous contact with my land, I can sense every, even the smallest, change in its internal and external structure. When the Awakening attacked us during the journey, her attack made something much worse than just tearing me out from my own kingdom. Her power deprived me of the contact with my world. I cannot draw the power from the never ending imagination of beings of entire multiverse, I am not having access to the magic which comes from deep subconsciouses of every thinking being. My body is becoming more and more material with every moment spend in this world and I am becoming the same as mortal beings inhabiting this land. I am not the Master of Dreams but only a traveller who must accomplish the mission entrusted him by the fate. And if I do not find my home in time, I will never come back to my palace". Everyone were touched by Morpheus' story, but some of them could not believe the truth of his words. They were sceptical, they were afraid that they had been used by him, or could not comprehend the complexity of reality embodied by the pale man with the eyes as black as the night. At the same the short guy who earlier had noticed the ring sparking with green glow on the finger of Alan Scott entered the inn. The man found the table by which strangers sat and ran up to them seeking the ones who he remembered from the marketplace.

"I welcome strangers, I welcome travellers..." He said nodding before everyone.

"I don't like this guy". Matts told Jessica to the ear.

"He's most probably some local idiot".The girl quietly commented.

"I welcome you all..." he replied coming up to Alan Scott. He touched his hand with the ring and he made a gesture as if he wanted to kiss it. Green Lantern seeing it concealed the hand under the table. "I've heard...I've heard.." He said looking all around. His goggled eyes were spinning there and back looking at faces of each team's member.

"Say what you have to or go away!" Rann shouted.

"Be calm... be calm... I have the offer for you".

"What is it about, man?" Alan was upset with the intrusive individual.

"I know, that you, my men..." he said looking at women from the group who he specially ignored.

"You're interested in the magic..." He completed. Everyone felt unsteadily, since they remembered very well what Morpheus had told them about the magic and how it was treated in the land which they visited.

"I think that some misunderstanding took place, I don't know what you are talking about..." Scott said. "It's not true!" The short man screamed.

"I know that you're searching for the Tower..." He added very loudly. After a moment he put his finger on his lips and he announced very quietly.

"... Zibo's house. I can help you". He smiled widely.

"I know about this place..."

"Perhaps we're able to reach an agreement somehow". GL looked at his group examining their facial expressions to find their approval for the cooperation with the intrusive stranger. Nobody opposed, the man continued.

"How can you help us, assuming that indeed we need to reach the Zibo Tower...?"

"I know how to reach it, I have the map!" He replied looking for something under his coat.

"I could see that unusual things were happening there! Very unusual! One day when I had strolled in the forest I could see spectral horses running through the meadow, how beautiful! And all of them got away from stables which Zibo had at one time. Other day I could see bird with fiery feathers which had rested on the branch of the tree growing right by the old tower. And the best of it all!" He announced taking the gold ball from under the coat. He moved it closer to Green Lantern's head and stopped talking. The ball opened as some mechanical flower and red flashes of light started whirling around it. When Alan wanted to touch the object, small man violently withdrew his hand putting his treasure deep in his pocket.

"Okay, we believe that you know the way... what do you want in exchange for the map?" Morpheus asked.

"I want more toys from this Tower! As many as you will manage to carry! You're supposed to bring me something from it!" The little shrimp answered rolling his eyes.

"Ok". Alan announced. The man caught his hand, trying to touch the green ring again.

"Today at night! Today at night!" The stranger said walking away from the table.

"What do you think about him?" GL asked his companions, when the intruder had disappeared from view.

"He is off his head". Jessica said.

"But the ball was probably real, so it's worthwhile checking this map". Rann added.

"Madmen can see things indiscernible for others, their minds carved a lot of lands in my kingdom". Lord of the sleeping armies added.

"I think, that everyone should rest before the next trip." Matts offered.

"I agree." Narea informed.

"Perhaps we'll manage to talk with Sakiko..." Mint interjected sadly.

The short man walked away from the inn and he found his way to the route leading beyond the village. In his head a plan was formed which could make him rich and by which he could get the respect of all inmates of the small town. He noticed the high building, the black tower raising behind the hill. He smiled widely, simultaneously quickening the pace. Breathless, he ran up to the steel door of the tower, which was guarded by two men dressed in black, steel armours and steel helmets with the visor made from the dark, dimwit glassware. Soldiers assumed a defensive position seeing the peasant approaching them.

"Calmly... calmly... I have the latest news for your commander!"

"Our lord gave the direct order not to let you into the watchtower! Go away or else we will chase you away! With swords!" One of the guards said.

"I have the gift for him! Very important news! Somebody in my village is practising magic!" The little shrimp said swallowing nervously.

"Well... you can enter... but if you are lying again, our lord will order us to behead you! Do you understand it?" The other warrior standing near the gate asked.

"I understand, I understand... I'm not lying, really!" The small man said nodding to soldiers. When the gate was opened, the man from the village moved through it to the inside of the watchtower like a rat escaping from the predator. He went the second floor of the building up along winding stairs cautiously searching the room occupied by the person sought by him. He knocked at the wooden door with gilded door handles expecting the reply with an anxiety.

"Enter!" The shout sounded from behind the door.

The village fool entered the interior of the chamber. His eyesight came across the quite big room, with green carpet on the floor and intricately woven kilim carpets hung on all walls. Opposite the big, oval window the oaken table, with maps and a few candles on it, stood and a few metres farther a wardrobe was placed, on which shelves rolls and books bound in leather were exhibited. The man dressed in dark purple suit with the cape resting on his back was sitting in the armchair. His hair was long and brown and beard graced his face. Seeing the local dope standing in the doorway, the owner of the watchtower got up from the table simultaneously reaching for the sword lying close by.

"You come here again you carrion! Will you be talking nonsense again?" He said with a distinct dissatisfaction.

"No my lord! I wouldn't dare. This time I'm bringing the sincere truth, the honest truth! In our village something unusual happened!" The small man tried to defend himself against the anger of the soldier. "Chat quickly and get out of my sight, you fool!" The bearded man was losing his patience more and more.

"I was strolling around a marketplace and I was a witness of the magic! The most real magic! I could see when two men had bought clothes and took them not paying the seller a single one piece of gold! That's true! The honest truth! They had to cast a spell on these poor women! They cheated them with treacherous magic! These rogues! But it's not the end..." The bearded warrior sat down on the armchair. He decided to listen to what the guest had to say.

"I tracked these two guys, because as the law-abiding citizen of our land I have the duty to report to authorities every sign of the magic... at some point this two quarrelled, I don't know why but it's not significant, such scoundrels can hit each other for nothing... they quarrelled and one of them forgot himself and took advantage of the magic, the ring on his hand shone with green glitter. It wasn't glitter of fire or lamp... no..."

"And how I am supposed to know whether what you are saying isn't your whim, or the delirium which you got coming back from the inn after the night of the drunkenness?"

"I have the evidence!" The guy said with huge satisfaction.

"I tracked those villains... and what turned out? It turned out there were more people with them, women and men of different ages. I learnt from peasants that they were interested in the magic and more specifically it the ruins of the tower in which old Zibo lived at one time. They asked about it even our good-natured Tomus, they were so insolent! I impersonated somebody who was also interested in secrets and I promised them that I would lead them to the ruins, where they'll be able to find magic artefacts! Am I not a wisdom incarnated? I fulfilled my duty to our master!"

"Talk man! Where is this evidence about which you are prattling on all the time!" The bearded man screamed simultaneously banging his fist on the table. The frightened peasant jumped away a few strides and cautiously came up to the angry soldier.

"Here! I managed to steal something what belonged to them!" He took out the ball, which he had shown Alan earlier in the inn, from behind the coat. The commander of the watchtower tore the artefact out from his hand and threw it against the stone floor. The device shattered intto few parts lighting with colourful glitter for the last time.

"Lead me to this marketplace!" Long-haired man ordered with a firm voice. His companion bowed before him and then he ran up to the door. The commander left to the corridor and he ordered the young soldier going close by to prepare the armour for him.

In the same moment two travellers who had been tracking Morpheus' team from the beginning of their travel stood on a hill looking at ruins of the tower surrounded with little stone wall, destroyed in a few places, laid in the distance.

"They can have grave trouble. Temporal lines from the past and the future are in this place in a jumble. When I'm closing my eyes I can see under my eyelids beautiful garden in which the old man with white beard is walking amongst flowers. But I can see also Morpheus and his team, cornered, cut off from world without the possibility of the escape". The girl said.

"I said, the Tower will be a point in which their real journey will start. The greatest trial so far is awaiting them there. Do you remember what the Golden Globe showed us when asked for the prediction?"

"Yes." black-haired girl replied closing her lilac eyes.

"Card from the Book of the Destiny, Symbol of the Life worn by the Woman of the Night, Stray Dream, Sword of Destruction, Mirror of Despair, Flame of Passion and something, which I'm not even able to name. " She added.

"Come to the Tower. We do not have much time and we must create the homunculus." The man suggested gripping his partner's hand.

"Of course." They both went down the grassy hillside straight into stone ruins of the tower.

Drales, it was the name of long-haired commander of soldiers stationed in the watchtower near the village and Fiflet, peasant who sold the team of the Master of Dreams to the local powers to satisfy his own greed, were walking around the market. Drales had the black armour, the same one as men guarding the gate to his stronghold, however he didn't dress the helmet. When the short man showed the stall on which Alan and Corinthian had bought clothes for their squad, Drales immediately ran up to it. Women confused by the view of the black armour stopped gossiping and prepared to greet their guest.

"What do you wish for yourself? We have here the selected fabric for so important person... " They said one after the other. The man hushed them up with one move of the hand.

"I have the question to you, women! Were here a foreigner, merchant from distant sides who bought clothes from you?" He asked simultaneously looking at Fiflet.

"Yes, two men were here, but we aren't looking at people". The fatter woman announced.

" Did they pay you properly?" Drales asked.

"Of course! He was so generous! He paid more than all these rags were worth! But after all it isn't an offence, yes?" The second woman, thinner and without teeth joined the conversation.

"Can I see gold which he left behind?" The soldier continued.

"But here you are, we have nothing to conceal!" The fat woman informed pointing at the box on which according to her the sack with gold stood. It stood, but only in front of eyes and in dreams of sellers from the stall. Drales and Fiflet could see only the empty space.

"Just as I said! Precisely the way I said!" The self-satisfied peasant screamed. Long-haired man fell into a pensive mood, he looked at the sky kind like he tried to look for an answer to questions tormenting him there.

He disregarded irritating Fiflet's voices all the time seeking the solution. In the end he broke the silence, immediately turning to the village idiot.

"Are you sure that they will come to the place of appointment?" He asked looking down at him.

"Yes, yes! They are so greedy for the magic and the wealth!"

"Very well. In that case I am gathering the team of liquidators but you prepare well, man, because the Oficium Antimagicum will arrive at your village". The bearded man enquired calmly.

At the same time, in the completely different part of the land, the young girl with auburn hair tied into the plait was escaping from somebody or something as quickly as she was able. She was dirty, muddied, her knees ached her from repeated falls onto hard stones protruding from the road. She knew that she could not stop, they were too close. She was holding the locket with the symbol of the Sun or star from which light rays were emerging. The girl was knocked on the root stickin out of the road and fell down landing in the puddle. She felt great pain in the leg, she probably broke her tendon. She curled up like a ball and at that very moment two men ran up to her. They was wearing black armours and their faces were covered by helmets with visors made of black glass.

"It's not as yout think! It's my family memento, nothing more!" The horrified woman screamed.

"For practising magic..." One of assailants said.

"You're arrested and you will stand up before the Officium"! His companion finished.

"No! I beg you!" Brown haired girl tried to defend herself. She covered her face with hands, she cried but she didn't want her torturers to have satisfaction seeing her in such a bad state. Suddenly the sky was incised with the purple lightning which hit two armed men reducing their bodies to ashes in the split of second. The girl was horrified, she was more afraid then earlier when two soldiers had chased her. She could not utter quietest sound. The tall man covered by the cape was standing over her. He bent over her, gently touched her face and then he took locket hanging on her neck.

"Who are you? What's going on here?" The woman whispered fixing her eyes on the face of the man who rescued her a moment ago.

"Don not be afraid. Your god has returned!" Fallax said smiling widely. His eyes were covered with the blindfold.

A night dawned over the lands, residents of the village disappeared from roads and fields and the inn filled up with guests expecting victuals and liquors after the long day of the hard work. Alan, Corinthian and Morpheus from the Endless Family stayed in the inn waiting for the appointment with Fiflet while other members of the team went to the floor, where residential lodgings were located. Matts Sunder was strolling around the dark corridor, when he noticed the opened door to one of rooms and glitter of the lamp cast on the wall opposite it. Cautiously, he looked inside and his eyes spotted a figure of Jessie Vale, plunged into darkness, sitting on the chair nearby the bed. The boy crossed the threshold of the room and stopped being unsure of his next step. There was a night and he was in a room of stranger woman and what's more the one coming from the reality completely different from his own. He has always thought that his dreams were bizarre, all the way to the moment when had met with the real master of dreaming and people gathered by him. Jessica turned her head sensing his presence.

"Come here. I know for sure, that today I won't fall asleep, so a company will be useful to me". She said smiling.

"Well." The satisfied boy came inside, closing the door. He sat down on the bed beside young mutant.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Fine. Many people from my school have seen unusual things and they travelled to faraway corners of the world, but this is probably even bigger than their most daring ideas". The girl replied.

"Exactly... I still don't believe that it's really happening. It's so different from my entire life".

"Matts... do you remember what we talked about earlier? Your dreams, this guy carrying the travelling bundle, can you tell me something more about them?" Jessica asked stopping the momentary silence. "Yes... I have strange, incredibly real dreams for as long as I can remember. They all have the similar course, similar scenery, I'm meeting with the same people in them. These are dreams about the destruction, about the end of the world, different disasters."

"Interesting." The girl interrupted his statement.

"In these dreams, I... and a few other people... we're hiding in some old, wooden house. I don't remember names of these people, their face or anything associated with them. I know that they're women and men of different ages. I also know that I know them very well. Later the worst is starting, everyone feel the approaching destruction, we're looking out of the window and we can see what is threatening us. And here each of dreams is different, one time it's airplane flying high and then great explosion of the atomic bomb on the horizon and the approaching shock wave, or great hurricane, a whirlwind coming closer and closer to our small cottage, sometimes it's some kind of cyclone, but built out of the light or darkness instead the air. Sometimes it's army of flying vehicles sent by the extraterrestrial civilization searching the area with the help of beams of the light. One day they were insanely powerful beings, equal to gods with their power who fought with the Earth using the weapon which could literally rewrote the laws of physics, they changed them so that the planet could not keep its mass and it collapsed into the black hole. It's horrible, to experience on your own skin when in the space in which you are the physics is starting to lose its meaning. I never know, what would happen if some of these threats affected me or somebody else from my dream, because I always wake up earlier and my dream ends."

"Ok, if you dreaming about something like that every night, it's really the crap... but what it has to do with this ginger man with the bundle?"

"He's turning up in dreams of the second type which I have equally often. I can see some road, I'm looking out of the window from my flat... and this ginger guy is going along the middle of the road immersed in the night and he sometimes turns to me and waves his hand at me. When I try to answer him somehow, he disappears or I wake up. Strange balls of light hovering above the asphalt of the street like the will o' the wisps above bogs sometimes accompany the walk of this guy. It's so bizzare, to see something like that..."

"Have you ever talked with this ginger bearded man?"

"Never... but in the night, when I had turned up in the inn and I met you and everyone else, I was dreaming one of my bizarre dreams. And this time maybe it wasn't a dream, perhaps this time it really happened? I was standing at the window again and strange things were happening outside, but this time I managed to go out and run after the bearded man. I didn't meet him, but I found myself here instead."

"Perhaps these dreams were an announcement of what was going to happened? Or prophecy about what can happen to us in the future?"

"Perhaps you're right. And what about you? You told me that you had seen something in the forest? Do you often have such hallucinations?"

"These were not hallucinations! It's all right with my head... namely I'm within the limits of the normality, if it's possible to set such limits." The girl answered disagreeing with the Matts' statement.

"I was born with strange abilities... I could predict the future, I had prophetic visions which were coming to me chaotically and most of them came true... I had big trouble with myself and everyone else, but I don't want to talk about it. At least not now..." Jessica stopped. Matts interested with topic decided to continue.

"You had them. Namely don't you have them now?"

"Yes and no. As it turned out, my abilities acted in completely different way and after my certain experiences, they changed even more. Now I don't even know what their true nature is. I have glimmers, visions, but they're much more incoherent than before, they concern the past and the future as well as completely abstract things. For example I can trigger them touching different objects."

"Do you want to try these abilities on me?" Matts offered. He put his hand on the hand of the black-haired girl. He gripped it gently.

"Can you see something? Will you see my past and maybe something waiting for us in the future?" He asked. Jessica was silent for a moment, but she answered him in the end.

"No. I told you that my abilities had become completely unpredictable".

Matts moved his hand from the girl's arm.

"Perhaps we can try other day".

"Perhaps". Jessie replied.

"I should go now. Maybe I can fall asleep and tomorrow I'll be able to tell you about my new dream". He announced rising from the bed.

"You should lie down too. Nobody knows how far we have to travel tomorrow". He added coming up to the door.

"Goodnight." He said disappearing behind the door.

"Goodnight." Jessica answered moving from the chair to the bed.

Sakiko couldn't fall asleep. She was looking at the opened window behind which the big, silver moon reigned, triggering in her soul strange, difficult for explicit classification longing for something fleeting, for something what was beyond her reach. It wasn't the hunger for blood which she felt the previous night, or the feeling of loneliness which accompaniedr her from the very moment she joined the team of strange persons in the world quite alien to her. She felt like talking with somebody, to be close the ones who worried about her and wished her well, but she could not. She didn't want anybody from the team to get used to her and got to like her. She didn't know, whether she turn against them in the future, therefore she had to remain completely stranger, emotionally bound with nobody from them. The door to her room opened with a bang destroying the harmony of quiet hours and Rann Shanner turned up inside. The girl moved to his side.

"What are you doing here? I wished myself no company!" She replied roughly.

"You don't have to play in front of me the same way you're playing in front of everybody else. You're at the moment as unnatural as some android sold by scrap dealers on Wildernesses".

"How can you know my true self? You know nothing about me!" The girl involuntarily joined in the conversation. Rann stood up opposite the window and the silver moonlight fell on his face.

"I know very well that you carry some dark secret, some terrible secret. Something that would cause that everyone would turn their back on you if they heard about it. I'm reading you like the open book and you know why?" He asked looking at the eyes of black-haired girl. Sakiko didn't say a word.

"Because I can see that we're the same. We aren't like the rest of this group. They're heroes, defenders, or ordinary nonentities. We're something completely different. We're warriors, hunters striding proudly in the darkness, hunting for victims afraid of us with no remorse. Am I wrong?"

"Perhaps there's some truth in your words..." The female vampire replied lowering the head.

"We must remember that a success of this mission can at one time depend on us. We must be able to act, when others will hesitate, we must be able to cross lines which others won't dare to cross."

"Why are you telling me all of this, why are you invading me here at night, when I want to be alone with my own thoughts?"

"I have to remind you who we really are. Warriors, hunters, murderers..." Shanner looked at the girl with his hypnotic eyesight.

"I don't think that I like your company any longer". The girl clenched fists. Rann turned and set off to the exit. Sakiko clenched her teeth simultaneously looking out of the window at some point of the space existing only in her imagination.

"You're wrong. I'm not a murderer... I'm not..." Black-haired girl repeated these words in her thoughts like some kind of mantra.

Narea and Mint booked one of guest rooms together. Girls were talikng to each other, because they wanted to spend the evening and the night in the way they were taught in their home worlds. Mint was sitting on the sill of the wide opened window, looking at the large Moon gleaming in the dark blue sky and the sea of twinkling stars. The wind blowing above the village brought the smell of forests from the distance, it carried sounds of animals setting off on night hunts and the murmur of stream invisible to the eyes. Elf girl fell into a pensive mood recalling the land of her childhood and evenings spent on listening to sounds of the forest thicket. It was something natural for her, something which she couldn't imagine her life without. When she was little girl she used to lay on boughs of the tree waiting for the sleep, she was thinking about what was outside limits set by the Forest, she dreamt about all the experiences and peculiarities about which she learnt from legends and stories passed on amongst her race from the generation to the generation. When her dream came true, she wasn't happy as much as she imagined. Her travel outside the Forest, in the World began with such threats as the Awakening, power which she wasn't able to understand, or Fallax overfilled with hate. The first place she saw after leaving her homeland, was hostile for beings like her, she had to hide who she really was. However the girl hoped that next lands which she'll see during the journey would be safe and full of wonderfulnesses she dreamt of when she was a little girl living between the limbs of trees of the Forest. Elf's companion, Narea was also preparing for the sleep, verging on odd meditation. The black-haired girl had been doing this every evening since she found her way to the church and decided to become the minder of Crystal Gardens, when was young acolythe helping older friends, when she was preparing for her journey, she when returned from it and received rights to learn about the Magic of Crystals. She was sitting in a Turkish manner on the floor and black, purple and blue crystal placed in circular formation surrounded her. Narea had closed eyes and her body was emitting the pale glow. Stones returned her callings, and they all started phosphorescing in the darkness. Soon one of them uttered one-tone sound, and right away their companions joined it, every one of them was transmitting its characteristic frequency. A sound wave overlapped each other creating the peculiar music, like clear jingling of small, silver bells. Mint interested with the phenomenon turned away her head toward the room. She was glad when her eyes met the light display created by her friend and her ears could be filled with the cosmic melody. Narea submerged in meditation was thinking, like every other day about her brother and about what happened to him in the past. Two tears flowed down form her eyes.

Meanwhile Alan, Corinthian and Morpheus were waiting for Fiflet's visit. The short guy bowed several times in front of his new acquaintances and then he sat down at the table. He rummaged about in his bag until he took out the rolled up map out of it. He laid the plan out on the table top with shivering hands.

"It's your map! The way I promised! I'm a man of honour and I always keep my promise!" He said rolling his eyes.

"Where is the tower about which you told us located?" Alan asked.

"Here, here!" Fiflet pointed his finger several times at the point on the map in which the emphasized symbol of some building was stenciled.

"Only a few steps behind the village! It'll be enough to go around two hills!" He added showing the village and curves symbolizing hills on the plan.

"Will you be keeping us company in our walk?" GL asked. Man waved hands signalling disagreement and announced all over:

"No, no, no! I won't go there! If I was brave enough to walk there I would go myself, I'm not an idiot!" "Very well. We can start our travel". The Master of Dreams announced.

"But remember about our agreement! I am a man of honour! I want to have the treasure that cursed place is hiding!" He added with shrill voice simultaneously sweating on the face.

"You will get your reward, Fiflet. We will remember about you". Morpheus calmed him.

"And what guarantee I have that you won't run off with my treasure?" Fiflet added after a moment of thought.

"The part of our group will stay in the inn. They will be your guarantee that you will not be cheated by us." The lord of sleeping armies said calmly.

"Thank you, Thank you". Fiflet replied kissing hands of Morpheus and then reaching for Alan Scott's hands, but the one didn't let him touch himself. The short man came up to Corinthian, but one look of the nightmare effectively dampened his enthusiasm. Fiflet ran out of the inn leaving all men alone. "Are we going there? Can we trust what he's saying?" Alan asked.

"No. This man is not as honest as he is talking about himself and his dreams are filled by reveries about wealth. Unfortunately we can not be too careful now. The existence of all the reality is in danger. I propose that only Sakiko Hayasu joins us. The rest will stay here so that in case of unexpected adversities they can perform the task entrusted them."

"Yes. If this is your will." Corinthian said.

"Mathew, fly to the girl!" He added looking at the bird sitting on his shoulder. The raven soared towards the opened window and then he headed to the upper deck searching for the room inside which young female vampire was sleeping.

Fiflet ran toward the centre of the village where liquidators hidden in the darkness were waiting for him. A dozen men dressed in black armours and helmets with visors made of black glass, gathered by the long-haired Drales, were waiting for orders in the deep concentration.

"They were fooled! They were fooled!" The excited man said.

"Are they going to the Tower?" The bearded man asked.

"Yes, yes. They're going. But not everyone were at the table, some of them must be in the inn, most probably they're sleeping!" Fiflet said rolling his eyes in all directions.

"Well. I'll divide the team in two. We'll catch all of them simultenaously. Do you know which way they'll be going?"

"Yes, I showed them only one road! Through hills! We'll catch them behind the second hill. As soon as they'll reach these cursed wrecks." The guy announced spitting at the very mention about ruins of the magus' tower.

"You heard him, men! We must accomplish our bounden duty. We're moving to capture criminals against the nature!" Drales ordered liquidators to start the mission of capturing Morpheus' team.

Alan, Dream, Corinthian and Sakiko were walking through meadow covered with grass, whipped by breezes of the nightly, warm wind. After a dozen minutes of the hiking the group reached to the forest clearing on which ruins of the Tower left by owner a long time ago stood.

"This place is depressing, like some old graveyard". Sakiko communicated the remark to the rest.

"We must go there. What are we supposed to look for?" Alan asked.

"Something what will be trying to find us, what will want to be found. Magic artefacts created by the hand of the man have the life of their own, they have fragment of the soul, of energy of their creator. If at least one of them is still alive, it means that its owner also did not depart from this world. Any such an object will be a signpost which will show us the path to somebody who will be able to help us."

"I think that my ring will be useful in our search". Alan announced going toward the entry to the Tower.

Jessica Vale was lying on the bed and her mind was slowly swimming away into the dreamland. The girl felt that her next vision was going to come into her mind. She could see the marching army of black clothed soldiers going through the street. She compared them with the view of Nazis whom she knew from historical films, she knew that she had to hide out from them. When the dark march was very close, Jessie noticed that one of them was holding Alan Scott's ring and few others were leading her companions from the team. Alan hit by the spear fell down on the road and soon Morpheus and Corinthian joined him. The girl woke up violently, she knew that she would have to act swiftly otherwise she could never escape from the world and her acquaintances could lose their lives. Jessica ran to the Matts' room. She prodded him several times to wake him up. The boy opened his eyes, he turned to the girl very dissatisfied.

"What are you doing... what do you want?" He asked.

"Get up! I had the vision! Somebody is hunting for Alan and the rest, they're threatened! We must warn them!" Black-haired girl said quickly, but simultaneously she tried not to raise her voice as if she didn't want to be eavesdropped.

"Okay, we're going." Matts replied. At the same time the group of armed liquidators accessed the tavern. One of them raised his hand ordering the drunk company to remain seated and continue to deal with their own, down-to-earth matters. Armed men headed for rooms occupied by guests. Jessica and Matts were walking along the corridor bathed in the darkness. Their intention was to reach the room of two girls and warn them against the threat hanging above their heads. At one point they heard the sound of shoes hitting steps of stairway. Jessica was poured by the cold sweat, the thuds were the same as in her vision. She stopped, she didn't know what to do next. She felt someone's touch and the strong pull into the part of the corridor sloshed with darkness. Matts was also pushed into the shadows by the mysterious individual. When the girl freed herself from the hug, she noticed that Rann Shaner dressed in his black costume, in which they had met him the first day, was standing near her and the boy. Black-haired man ordered them to keep quiet with a gesture of the hand and explained the seriousness of the situation they were in.

"You cannot go there, there's too many of them and they are armed. I don't know who they are, but they have already taken Narea and Mint, this idiot from the village probably sold us out to them." The man informed.

"What are we doing?" Matts asked.

"Come with me." Rann showed the door to one of rooms. He kicked it so firmly that wood didn't withstand and the gate were opened. The man ran up to the window, immediately looking outside.

"We must escape from here. There!" He showed the wooden roof placed right under the opened window of the room.

"Are we supposed to jump?" Jessica was surprised.

"Yes, it's quite near to the ground here, so nothing will happen to you. My sensors takes no signs of life beneath the building, nobody should betray our position."

"Yeah okay, if it's the only exit." The girl agreed quickly, because the latest premonition was filling the considerable part of her thoughts. Rann jumped out of the window, landing on the small roof below and he quickly hopped from there on the ground.

Jessica and Matts followed his example and everyone escaped from the tavern, and found themselves close to the part of a building which had no doors leading to its interior. Rann had stopped his two companions again ordering them to hide behind the wall of the house. Liquidators were leading Mint and Narea chained by black cuffs on hands and legs. One of soldiers was carrying the bag of the young priestess filled with colourful crystal.

"What are we doing?" Matts asked.

"We should help them!" Jessica was horrified with fate of her acquaintances.

"No, you are no threat for these knights and what's more there's too many of them even for my technology. Only Green Lantern's ring could help us now." Rann stopped her before any action was taken.

"Are we going to let them take girls?" Jessie wasn't satisfied by his statement.

"We'll go after them, we'll find their weak points out and we'll hit them in the moment the most unexpected for them.

Alan, Morpheus, Corinthian and Sakiko were in the interior of the mage's destroyed Tower. There was extremely dark there, because the building didn't have a single window. Alan used his ring in order to lighten up the dark interior of cold walls built from stones. There was nothing interesting in the first chamber, no artefacts or other objects riveting the attention. Alan noticed the door leading to the stairwell from which it was possible to get to higher storeys of tower or to its underground. Saiko felt something like being struck by a cold and she realized that somebody or something had come near to her, something which was a great threat for her. She shared her observation with other members of the team immediately.

"Something or somebody is approaching, something not very good." She announced heading for the exit. She noticed the group of people attired in black armours going down the hill in direction of the stone tower. Some of them were holding torches, the others were armed in swords. The girl came back to the interior of the building.

"Listen, some people are coming here. They're armed and it isn't looking too good." Alan ran out outside and using the ring he created the telescope, thanks to which he could watch figures going after the hill. He saw that one of the people had long hair and beard and in the second, shorter man he recognised Fiflet. He clenched fists feeling great fury.

"Fiflet is with them, he probably cheated us and he sold us out". He said coming back to others. Corinthian took the knife out from behind the belt.

"He'll get what he deserves!" He shouted.

"No, Corinthian. We can not act this way, because our presence in other worlds should be limited to the minimum. We already did a lot of bad deeds contacting residents of this village, changing the natural order of things of this land. The more intervention will only aggravate the situation. Sakiko Hayasu..." Dream turned to the black-haired female vampire.

"Yes?"

"You will continue the mission. Fiflet did not see you with us in the inn and perhaps liquidators do not know about your existance. Enter the interior of the stronghold and search the artefact which wants to be found."

"But what about you? How will I find you?" The surprised girl asked.

"The artefact will take you by the hand, if you open your heart for it. You will find the reply there."

"Yeah okay, I'm going." Sakiko replied disappearing in the darkness waiting behind the door leading to the stairs. Mathew flew after the girl.

"Do not use your magic. Perhaps a chance to clear up a misunderstanding with authorities of this land exists. These are people who also want peace and order they built by centuries." All three men left outside the tower, where Drales, Fiflet and liquidators were waiting for them. The short man smiled seeing faces familiar to him.

"I told you so! I told you so!" He said rolling his eyes back and forth.

"They are, they are practising magic!" he screamed excited.

"I don't know what this man is talking about, we're gold seekers. We heard there is a plenty of valuable things in these areas." Alan tried to defend himself.

"Be silent!" Drales shouted.

"You'll be defending yourselves before the Great Oficium Antimagicum! Take them!" He added. Liquidators came up to three men and chained them. Corinthian passsing by Fiflet looked at him smiling widely.

"See you later". He said with a voice which chilled blood in veins of the peasant.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The trio of people, hidden under the cloak of the night and thick forest growing on both sides of the road, followed the armed men in black armors, heading in direction known only to themselves, together with other members of the team lost in one of many worlds of multiverse. The first of them was Rann Shaner who forced his way through the thicket with the agility of the nocturnal cat, helping himself with a hologram of the map, created in real time by the computer inside bionic implants in his forearm. Jessica and Matts kept up with him with an effort, simultaneously trying not to make too much noise which could alert the armed procession going along the road. At some point, Rann stood up behind the big tree and ordered his companions to do exactly the same thing.

"What happened?" Matts asked.

"One of them turned around, we must increase our distance, or else they will guess that they're being followed. Jessica, do you feel something?" Shaner replied simultaneously turning in the direction of the girl.

"No, I'm sorry, I can see no images."

"Perhaps these surroundings hide nothing interesting." Matts spoke, but Rann hushed him up.

"I can't see Sakiko Hayasu amongst prisoners, I think that we can count on her help."

"I hope you're right, because the alternative is much worse." The boy completed his statement.

"Could they do something to her?" Jessica asked.

"If they can do these kind of things, we're in a grave trouble."

The group reached the border of the forest thicket. In the front of their eyes, the hill appeared, covered by meadows and enclosed by the sea of twinkling stars. Each of them knew that the walk should be much more careful, because they could be noticed with an ease on the opened area, even in the ink color of the night flooding everything.

"I'm wondering, why didn't they try to fight." Matts asked rhetorically.

"They don't know the opponent. An attempted to escape would be a tactical mistake and it could cause casualties. It is quite logical, I would act precisely the same. Besides, Morpheus as the higher being decided not to interfere in the natural course of events of the world in which he was."

"His decision can only kill somebody from us..." Sunder didn't hide dissatisfaction.

"We're going." Rann stopped the conversation, showing that the procession tracked by him disappeared behind the hill.

Sakiko went down, along the winding stairs, into the basements of the old magus Zibo's tower destroyed by time. Thanks to abilities of the vampire, the girl dealt with the darkness overwhelming everything very well and she had no problems with keeping her balance on stairs bent and crumbled by the long years. The black bird accompanied her every step, flying up into air just to sit down on her shoulder after a minute.

"Do you know what are we supposed to look for?" Sakiko asked, although she knew that she wouldn't receive the reply or an useful hint.

"I don't have a clue! The boss said that something will want to be found, and it will be found. Like it was supposed to help us in any way whatsoever!"

"Is he always so enigmatic in his statements?" Sakiko asked to kill the time and suppress her fear for members of the team whom she had to leave behind on the surface.

"Today he was exceptionally literal! Everything depends on the time of the day... and seasons... and of the awareness, which dreams he's travelling across. He sometimes answers with a question, a haiku, a parable or some verse stylized for biblical language. You can go crazy, if you have such a boss! But I'm able to understand him, but Mervyn doesn't!"

"Mervyn, who is Mervyn?"

"My pal from the palace. Mervyn, Pumpkin head. He deals with repairs and the reconstruction of the palace. And he has a lot to do, because Morpheus is so sulky. One day and the entire scenery around the palace become boring for him! The poor man Mervyn must quickly alter everything! I don't envy him such a work!"

"Now he must be satisfied. If your boss isn't in the palace, Mervyn has a lot of time for himself."

"No, it doesn't work like that. Devourers of Dreams attacked our land and there's a plenty of damage everywhere. Now Mervyn has three times more work than usually! He won't have some rest, there's no slightest chance!"

"What's that?" Sakiko stopped the conversation noticing bluish glow on one of walls of the underground corridor.

"I don't have a clue! Light so deeply below the ground?"

"Perhaps this is an artifact which Morpheus talked about? Perhaps it's worthwhile to check?" The girl suggested.

"Yes, you're right. It's worthwhile checking!" Matthew rose up into the air heading in the direction from which strange glitter radiated. The young female vampire saw the niche in the wall on which some object lay. When she went up closer and it turned out there was a strange scepter. It was made of gold and a blue jewel lighting with internal brilliance was attached on one of its ends. When Sakiko took a good look at it, she noticed whirling streaks of non-existent wind like clouds of the magic smoke swirling in its interior. The object was new, it completely didn't fit in walls of the tower covered with webs and stinking mushrooms. The girl instinctively extended a hand toward the artifact and a strange melody sounded in her head, very distant singing of women and ambiguous crystalline sounds difficult to express. The bird stopped the hand of the girl.

"Think! Perhaps it's a trap! It looks suspicious!"

"Matthew... it's calling me... wants to be found, taken from this place. Perhaps it's an artifact which the Master of Dreams talked about?"

"It can be... but remember that I warned you!" The raven announced hiding behind the stone sticking out of the floor. Sakiko touched the shimmering surface of the object and she felt pain in the same moment, completely like she was paralyzed by the electric current. She tightened the hand on the artifact trying to move it with all her might, but she wasn't able. The object she started telling her some very important information and it could not let the female vampire lose contact with it even for a second. The raven scrutinized the quiet event from a safe place behind the big stone.

"Now I know that it's an object which I searched, which wanted to be found. I'm sure about it." The girl spoke, losing the contact with the mysterious thing.

"Can I come out?" The bird asked.

"Yes, this scepter is completely safe for us." Sakiko put the golden artifact back to a place adequate for it.

"How do you know that it's the right thing?"

"The scepter told me whom it had belonged to in the past and where I can find its previous owner now."

"And will he help us to get out of this cursed hole?"

"I don't know Matthew, I could ask about nothing. I simply saw the face of somebody who earlier wielded power of the scepter in the hand and the place in which he's now."

"In that case, let us move out from this hole and let us go to him. The faster he'll take us from here away, the better."

"I don't know if it's so simple."

"But you said a moment ago that you knew where he is!"

"And there is the entire problem. The previous owner of this scepter doesn't live. A place which was shown to me was a graveyard of the city situated a few kilometers from here."

"What? And how it is supposed to help us?" The bird was irritated very much, he flew around the head of the girl.

"I don't understand it either! But it's the only trail at the moment which we have and we must try to follow it. Do you agree with me?"

"Yes... you're right." Matthew calmed down and came back to the stone floor. Sakiko raised the scepter, this time not having a bit of a problem with it. The object communicated its message to her and then it turned into the state of sleep in order to wake up in the next appropriate moment.

"Our trip must wait." The black-haired announced.

"Why?"

"We must find the rest of the team and then try to learn where these soldiers took Alan and other and to try to rescue them."

"You're right. So let us move..."

In the inn, from which the local military took Mint and Narea a few hours earlier and Rann Matts and Jessica had to escape, the two travelers savored the beer and the roast from a wild pig. The local company discussed about entering of soldiers to their favorite inn, the disorder and a few women taken out of it. Everyone had their own theory concerning what had happened as well as the only truth about the identity and crimes committed by women. Black-haired looked at the bearded man with her big violet eyes. Her face expressed sadness and concern.

"Do you know what everyone are talking about here? If Morpheus was captured, chances of the success of our mission drastically decreased. Should we not intervene?"

"What do you mean?" The bearded man asked looking from above the mug with a beer.

"It's too risky. Eyes of the Awakening would be returned to our side. It would entirely blight any chance of achieving our purpose. We won't risk."

"If you think this way... but if they are imprisoned in this world, we face the same fate."

"I won't believe Morpheus will let any mortals to imprison him the second time. I am convinced that everything will be well for them and soon they will set off on their travel." The girl fell into a pensive mood, as if her mind ran away somewhere beyond thresholds of the old inn stinking of the mustiness. "Somebody from them... read the message from our scepter." She announced after short-lived silence. A smile appeared on her face.

"I knew that you were worrying unnecessarily. Everything is going according to our plan. Did Morpheus touched the scepter?"

"No... I don't think so... I don't know this person. This is probably somebody from his team of sleeping mortals."

"Unimportant. They caught our track. Now we must hurry up so that we will come before them and make our message." The bearded man smiled widely. However, he noticed that the face of his companion had become sad again.

"What's bothering you? Everything is going according to the plan".

"Exactly..." The girl answered. She closed her eyes.

"What do you mean? Sometimes I cannot understand your behavior. What do you worry about?" "When we started, I had no doubts, I was completely sure about what I wanted to do. But now, when we are travelling the unknown worlds night after night, when we are closer and closer to our purpose, I start hesitating. I am afraid that what we are going to do is bad."

"Why do you worry about it? We promised ourselves that we would be thinking only about our purpose."

"Just think. You want to send them for the pointless journey all over the Worlds, only so that they help you to find some old artifacts needed for conducting the ritual which was legendary even in the ancient books. And you are using the terrible cataclysm which is hanging above the entire reality! What will you do, if through our action the Awakening wins? How will you live with it?"

"I won't. The Awakening will blot me and you out from existence because of our involvement in her holy mission of restoring the primeval nothingness. It won't let us become anew in the world created by it."

"We have the strength to help this team and instead of it, we are searching something what will make happy only us. I don't want to have anybody on the conscience, my matter isn't worth such a sacrifice!"

"I tried to convince you that it is worthwhile. And I sustain my opinion. We cannot move back, I have said once it wouldn't be possible to stop the machine set in motion, because its entire future is already determined from the beginning by the initial conditions."

"But why exactly these worlds? Objects belonging to the Endless are everywhere. We could make their road much easier."

"We have already talked about it. Our action will let us destroy fugitives from the land of Lucifer so they don't mess with our plans in the future. They aren't able to understand them."

"Are you enough strong to fight with them?"

"Yes, if the Master of Dreams will assist me, consciously or unwittingly."

"And if we will meet him, the Morning Star on our road? Are you able to defeat him?"

"We won't meet him... he left his land and he is not interested in fate of its inhabitants."

"You didn't answer my question. Are you able to defeat him?"

"No. I am not." The bearded man replied unwillingly rising from the table. The girl also finished the food and quickly joined him."

"Where are we going now?"

"I said, we must prepare our message for the Lord of Dreams. Recall exactly what you experienced in the vision."

The group of black knights leading Mint and Narea met with the team run by Drales, which managed to capture Morpheus, Alan Scott and Corinthian.

"What is happening here?" The frightened Mint asked seeing the dark eyes of the Master of Dreams. "Be calm child, this misunderstanding will be clarified."

"What misunderstanding? Please see what this witch had!" The one of soldiers pushed Narea so strongly that she fell down to the ground. He took the bag with crystals away from her and he handed it to the long-haired commander. Mint helped her friend to get up.

"Yeah nice... scribes from Oficium Antimagicum will have their hands full." Drales replied looking into the interior of the bag. His eyesight lodged on the shimmering surface of one of black crystal. "What secrets does this slice of rock hide?" He asked rhetorically and then he gave the bag to one of soldiers.

"Carry it to the storage room, it will be an evidence against these people."

"What's going on here? What do they want from us?" Mint asked Alan and Master of Sleeping Marches, but none of them answered her fearing the reaction of guards looking them after. Narea watched in a silence as the man enclosed in armor took the property which she'd never parted with earlier, on all her previous expeditions. Terrible anger seized her, feeling which she had tried to purge from her personality for years. Drales came up to Alan, pointing the opened hand at his direction. "Give me the ring." He announced firmly.

"Why? It's a family signet ring, souvenir very important and valuable for me, I cannot part with it."

"I won't repeat twice. Give me this ring, or else one of my soldiers will take it together with the hand!" Did I express myself clearly?" Morpheus approached the Green Lantern.

"Alan Scott, do what the this man asks for. The resistance can end tragically for you and persons keeping you company." The man unwillingly removed the green ring from the hand and handed it to the long-haired commander. In the same moment, Fiflet cut in the conversation. The little guy was silent all the time, counting money which he earned on the betrayal of strangers and simultaneously feeling fear of Corinthian, who earlier had threatened him with the death.

"Somebody is missing! Somebody is missing! There was more, I remember them!" He said looking at the man with long hair taller than himself.

"There was more of them! They escaped!" He repeated.

"Is it true?" Drales asked firmly.

"No, I don't have a clue what this man is talking about. We're travelling alone. If he could see anybody else, he or she had to be some traveler in the tavern who joined us since there was a vacancy by our table." Alan announced calmly.

"Untrue! It's not true! They were together!" Fiflet didn't give up.

"Aren't you trying to collect even bigger award? Think, or else you won't get no penny!" Drales was irritated with behavior of the short intruder.

"My lord! There were more of them!" Fiflet bowed low before long-haired man.

"Okay! I will send somebody to check that dump of a village! Hey, four of you! Come back to the city and ask about strangers!" Drales shouted at his subordinates and they obediently carried out an order turning back toward the small town.

"Move! We're pressed for time!" He added gesturing to soldiers order to quicken the pace.

Rann Shaner hidden in a safe place, in the dark, forest thicket, noticed that the group of men dressed in black armors, in helmets on heads, had turned back to his side. He moved aside into the darkness of forest so none of them could see even a smallest part of his body.

"Four. They went back and they are going this way." He said to his companions.

"Namely, we must get out from here?" Matts asked.

"There aren't many of them. The similar luck may never repeat itself."

"What do you mean?" Sunder has asked once again.

"I will get their armors. We will obtain the tactical advantage. Stay here and don't be seen."

"Do you want to struggle with the four?" Jessica was surprised.

"And how can you help me? Did you kill somebody in the past?"

"Of course, no." The girl replied but Matts only shook his head.

"As I thought. Therefore, be quiet and wait for my return."

Rann went to the deeper part of forest. The road which soldiers followed led there and the man could prepare the deadly ambush. He climbed a tree quickly and nimbly like the cat. The majority of biomechanical additions which had made him strong in the past was removed from all over his body, after he had fell into the disgrace of his companions, but all what remained, made him somebody much tougher than the average man. His eyes could see in the darkness of the night as good as in a sunny day which gave him the considerable advantage over his victims. His left hand had once covered the dagger moved by the mental order, but even now, when there was no weapon inside, the man was able to use it as the effective tool of the death. Silently, like the bird of prey attacking its victim, Rann jumped on one of warriors. Using his kinetic energy and taught ways of the hand-to-hand combat, Shaner hit the unlucky soldier, effectively knocking him over to the ground. Butting against the tough ground and the grip of the man were enough for breaking the neck of unaware guard from the tower. Rann took his black sword, and moved in the direction of his companion violently. The surprised man didn't defend himself against the blow which impaled him. Rann knew that he couldn't get rid of the rest of opponents the same way, he needed three armors not stained even with one drop of blood.

"Who are you?" The other knight asked, tightly gripping the sword in hands.

"Somebody who will take your life in a minute!" Shaner replied smiling widely.

"Don't chat with him!" The second warrior shouted. He wasn't armed, but yet he dared to attack somebody, who had killed his two friends with an ease. Rann was much faster than him. Mighty blow of his right hand directed at the glass protection of the soldier's helmet, smashed it to pieces. The man knew what force to use and which place to hit so that sharp shards of glass hit the face of the poor wretch and particularly his eyes. The opponent was trounced effectively, therefore Rann decided to get even with the last of the patrolmen. Soldier, seeing two dead friends and one cruelly crippled, twisting around land in a great pain, didn't know what to do.

He was holding the sword, but he also was losing all hope, with every passing moment, he knew that the weapon would give him no protection. After a dozen seconds, he decided to choose the escape instead of the fight. He threw the sword into thickets and he geared up for the run. However, Shaner could not let him escape. If the man managed to alert his companions, forest could swarm from dozens of armed soldiers and it certainly would finish his and his companions journey. And apart from that he needed the third uniform not stained with a blood. The man set off in pursuit of the fugitive. He managed to catch up with him very quickly and gave him a blow into the back of the head, depriving him of consciousnesses and life a moment later. The stranger from the world of the future came back calmly to the place, where originally fought the duel with soldiers, he looked around and broke the neck of the man heavily wounded into eyes, last of the four of unlucky patrol.

"Computer... status of targets..." He asked.

"Lack of life signs in three individuals. In the fourth one, an activity of the cerebral cortex is currently disappearing." A mechanical voice coming from the device stuck to the man's arm answered. "Evaluation of damage?" He asked again looking at his hand hurt by the contact with the black pane. "Lack of breakdowns. Wounds are superficial and they aren't threatening our correct functioning. Nano-robots are starting repair of injuries of the skin."

"Very well. We're taking clothes and coming to the others."

"We recommend replacing nano-robots. Level of active nano-robots in the blood stream is critically low.."

"Stop! I don't need such an information. Where I'm supposed to find nano-robots on this dump of the world?" Rann said to himself hushing announcements of the private computer up.

Two armed guards closed the gate of the tower, leaving Fiflet, keeping the sack of gold, completely alone. The short man clasped his treasure tightly, but he didn't intend to diverge. The lack of a few people from Morpheus' team meant the possibility of extra money for him. Fiflet looked at the dark clouds, moving all over the night sky lighted with a glitter of the silver moon, thinking how to find and betray the last group of travelers to guards. Drales strolled there and back around the stone floor of his stronghold and his steps echoed from cold walls of dungeons. He stopped halfway, he looked ahead of himself, just in order to return to the restless walk after a moment. Behind bars of cell, Alan Scott, Morpheus, Corinthian, Mint and Narea sat on old and destroyed by the time and the vermin benches. Listening to the Master of Dreams, nobody spoke and all of them ignored taunts of the long-haired man. Drales decided to continue his monologue.

"Your journey ends here, in dungeons of my stronghold. You won't get to the city, you won't be telling heresy about Fallax's return, the one who ruled these lands at one time. I know very well that your trip to these sides was aimed at finding wonderful objects about which your legends tell or perhaps even waking up your god a long time ago put to sleep! Nothing of the kind! Soon, envoys from the capital city will arrive here and they will take you to the place, in which you will spend the rest of your life! And you will learn the truth about the history of these lands. About whom really Fallax was and where the march to fathoming magic secrets led him. And now let us see what we here have..." Drales approached the table on which the bag with Narea's magic crystals lay. He took one of them out with shivering hand. He looked in Narea's eyes, although the girl tried to ignore his taunt.

"What's this? What is it used for?" He shouted. Black-haired didn't answered. Irritated Drales threw crystal against grating of the prison. The object emitted characteristic clanks and fell on stones of the floor. Narea was furious, but she didn't react. Months of meditation and lessons of ruling above her own emotions turned out to be very helpful, she thought recalling her teacher.

"I asked you questions! What's this?" The long-haired man rose with an anger.

"Stones, ordinary ornaments, there is no need to throw them." Narea replied closing her eyes. The man didn't feel like talking with here again.

"We'll see what you will be talking during the court." He grunted.

"This idiot Fiflet said that the ring on your hand had gleamed with a green glitter. Now we will see the truth." Drales smiled widely putting the ring of the Green Lantern on the middle finger of the hand. He came closer to bars, as if he wanted to watch the ring's previous owner more closely.

"How to make it shine?" He asked. Green Lantern did not say one word, he was silent and focused his will, his life force on one task only - not allowing Drales to use the power lying dormant in the small green object.

"Don't you feel like the talking with me? In the capital city, they will certainly force you to open your mouth!" The long-haired man looked at imprisoned people with a hate in his eyes and moved toward stone stairs taking the ring as well as the bag with Narea's crystals. Alan Scott clutched his head.

"What happened?" Alarmed Mint asked.

"It's all right. Don't worry about me. I'm exhausted by controlling my ring from a distance. You can't imagine how much intense energy is imprisoned inside it. The energy, the light having its own awareness, own desires and needs. For a moment, I felt the green flame wanting to unite with this man, it tried to enter his mind, to answer his requests. The flame senses great passion in him, possibility of the transformation into something greater and therefore it wanted to help him with this transformation. If he tries to use the ring somewhere else, far from my influence, I won't be able to stop him."

"We will have trouble..." Mint said sitting on the bench again.

"You're right Alan Scott, Green Flame, the Heart of the Star is a proud and great being. I remember, when I had met him for the first time eons ago, when the universe was young and the sky above our heads didn't gleam with thousand of stars. The story about glitter of the Flame is filling cards of more than one book in the library of my palace."

" I won't even try to understand when and where it happened." Alan announced calmly.

"It's okay, you are aware of restrictions of your human mind, terrestrial Green Lantern."

"How could he!" Narea turned to Mint clenching her fists.

"How he could treat the crystal as some pieces of rubbish! As something which can be thrown away! If I didn't swear the peaceful life at the foot of the crystal tree, I would use all available magic in order to wipe this mocking smile off his disgusting face!" The girl was irritated more and more.

"Narea, don't be mad. We cannot reveal who we are. You must retain your patience. We cannot risk the anger of these people, when know nothing about them."

"And look who said it! I understand that the Master of Dreams was deprived of his abilities and I and Alan Scott aren't able to act without our artifacts, but you should do something! You're carrying the magic in your heart! Why didn't you use it on this piece of trash, when he tried to destroy my crystal? Why didn't you pierce those soldiers with the branches of trees and roots which you can control? Why we're sitting here, instead of do what we must and go back home? "

"Narea, calm down. You heard that we could not reveal our abilities. We cannot interfere in the balance of this world..."

"And whether somebody worried about the balance of my world, when he kidnapped me where I didn't ask to be at all!" Narea shouted at her friend.

"I'll try to calm you with touching..." Mint stretched the hand out toward the face of the friend.

"I don't need it!" The black-haired girl pushed her hand and she banged her fist on the stone wall. She clenched her teeth, rose from the bench and ran up to bars separating her from the free world.

"I... I apologize... it all has a very bad influence me... I don't have the crystal for meditation and I'm starting to feel it... it will be worse and worse from hour to hour..."

"Perhaps I'll help you with my touch, or at least I will try."

"No. I must cope with what is happening to me myself. Too long I counted on crystals, garden, fountain of the life which holy water is soothing all wounds, both physical as well as the psychological ones. The first real trial awaits me now."

Elf girl approached her friend in spite of protests, she embraced her and cuddled up to her.

"Every inhabitant of our Forest knows that he or she has dark half, dark elf living in the deep forest, where even rays of sunshine don't reach. And each of us is learning through the entire life how to control him or her and how to not permit him or her to leave the black and humid imprisonment and settle in meadows of our forest bathed in the light. I'm sure that you'll also be able to imprison your shadow and to learn how to live with its presence all the time behind the back."

Drales stood in one of the chambers on the highest level of the Tower. A fat man with a bald skull dressed in white shirt and trousers kept him company. A huge, black stove in which stacks of woods burnt stood behind men. The strange structure was adjoined directly to the wall of the building, the panel full of levers, knobs and hanging chains was stuck by it.

"Tell a message. Immediately." The long-haired man said.

"I knew that you would decide it. I prepared the fire." The bald man said being very satisfied from himself.

"I caught the suspects which require examining by the Oficium Antimagicum. I ask for envoys arrival as soon as possible."

"Oh Right!" The fat man announced pointed at the direction of machinery. He moved levers sticking out of the wall panel in the rhythmical way, exchanging Drales' words and contents hiding in them to the sequence of mechanical impulses controlling the machine. Wooden blinds of the large window was opening and closing alternately according to movements of the man periodically revealing and covering embers of the large hearth from outside world and the night reigning around the stronghold. The light signal visible from the distance of many kilometers brought the information encrypted in flashes far beyond the border of the province like a beam of light from the lighthouse telling the way to the port amongst the restless sea. The message was read in other watchtower, where the fire was lighted and identical information signal, correct to a single bit was sent. Unusual news about catching people allegedly practicing magic, travelled slowly to the capital city, where the Oficium Antimagicum ruling all over the realms had its main temples.

Sakiko stood on the road leading to the village on which she could see everyone from her team for the last time. Raven Matthew sat by her on the wooden stake, signpost, destroyed by the time and rains often falling in the country. The girl was ready for the travel to search the owner of the found magic artifact in basements of ruined tower. Not knowing what direction to take, she asked elderly man who decided to walk in the moonlight.

"I'm sorry, I arrived here from distant place. I learnt recently that my family had come from these surroundings. I wanted to visit them on the graveyard, but I got lost. Do you know, where the nearest graveyard is? Big, enclosed with stone wall..." The black-haired asked the most politely she was able.

"Er..." The grandpa replied thinking.

"I know! I remember! The graveyard enclosed by wall is located in Margouth city, I know none other, but I didn't travel in my life too much..."

"Thank you, which way I'll reach the city?"

"On legs? It would be a long walk. Riding on horseback, you lose one day and half a night. On foot it takes much longer... you must leave the village using the eastern road and then straight across the bridge as far as up to walls. But now you'd better go to the inn, girl. It's dangerous to wander around in nights. A plenty of guards is walking here tonight. Who knows what they want..."

"Thank you... for information and good advice." Sakiko said moving away from the man. Matthew glided above her head.

"Did you hear? One and a half day of a travel by a horse!"

"Long. Perhaps we should first find the boss and the rest of group?"

"Matthew, will you be able to find me when I'm somewhere far away?" The girl asked.

"Yes, yes... I have a good eyesight. I'll find you for even on the second end of this continent."

"That's great. We'll split up. You'll find the place in which our team is being kept, as well as the ones who weren't caught. I'm sure, that since we're free, somebody else could also have luck."

"What about you?"

"I'll go to this graveyard and perhaps everything will become clear. Or at least I'll get the next clue how to get out of this place."

"Is it sensible? There's a lot of these dim-witted heads here!"

"I'll can do it. I'm a strong and independent girl." Sakiko replied smiling.

"Will you go on foot?"

"No, you heard that I should take a horse."

"And where will you find a horse, girl!" The bird was surprised.

"I have my ways." The black-haired vampire smiled again.

"Ok. Do what you will, I'll check the surrounding and perhaps find somebody!"

"Yeah, do not waste the time"

"Yes... And one thing more... take care of yourself." The bird said rising up into the air.

"You too." The girl announced. When the raven disappeared behind the horizon merging with inky blackness of the night sky, Sakiko decided to look around for the horse. The extraordinary abilities, she gained after being bitten by the vampire, provided her with increased strength, speed, agility and endurance, her senses were much sharper than senses of the ordinary men, she could see very well in the darkness and her hearing was able to detect a flutter of wings of a moth flying to a roadside lamp post. The ability of establishing the telepathic contact with animals was one of powers which the girl rarely used. This power was supposed to turn out to be unusually useful. Sakiko noticed the brown horse tied up at the entering to the small inn. She came up to the animal with a saunter, stopping right before his head. She looked into the eyes of the horse with her hypnotizing look and her mind reached deep into the consciousness of the animal. She established the connection after a few seconds and she telepathically convinced it that she was its owner and needed its help. When she was sure that the horse was calmed, she untied the constraining rope with one move of the hand.

"We must hurry up." She whispered to the animal, stroking it on head and neck. She was riding the toward the road leading to the city.

Rann Shaner came back to the place in the depths of the forest, where she had seen Matts and Jessica for the last time. He was carrying three sets of soldiers from the tower uniforms and intact helmets with visors made of the brown glass.

"Change clothes. I don't know, whether they will fit you, but I'm not able to find you anything better. "Did you manage to defeat four people.." Matts said taking one of helmets.

"What happened with these people?" The girl asked.

"I'm sure that you know the reply." Rann replied dispassionately, gearing himself up to change the into the uniform of Drales' warrior.

"Did you kill them everyone?"

"We are going to war, I prefer to think about it like about the elimination of the opponent." Rann finished the conversation which irritated him more and more.

"What are we going to do now?" Matts asked.

"We'll reach that tower and we'll get our companions out. And then we'll be looking for the way of leaving this world. I think, that we all want it. Better hurry up with dressing, because more soldiers can appear here soon. Jessica raised the helmet and in the same moment a vision appeared in her mind. She observed the fight which had happened in the forest. For a moment, she was in the skin of one of soldiers, she could see the massacre of her friends from hands the Shaner, she felt the fear which had paralyzed her, when she had decided to escape. She could man and his hand which brought her closer to the death with every passing microsecond. The girl threw the helmet to the ground, simultaneously moving back a few strides.

"You are a murderer..." She said looking at Shaner.

"I'm a soldier. And I'm on your side. Remember about it and don't inconvenience me anymore!" Rann shouted giving the helmet back to the girl.

"Get dressed, or wait here until we perform our task!" He added.

"Jessica, we must do what he wants from us..." Matts came up to the girl.

"I don't trust him. I hope that we will quickly find the rest." Jessica replied.

Meanwhile, in the completely different place and time, the old woman leaning on the wooden cane stood opposite the pitch-black pole raising above crowns of trees. She looked at it knowing that she was going to fight for the life very soon.

"I didn't want to use the physical violence and its worst form is which murder, but unfortunately I am forced to act." The booming voice sounded around.

"My sole purpose, which I was created for, is to be a guardian of this place and the person which is its prisoner. I cannot let you see him, even if the existence of the entire reality depend on it."

"Yeah one-zero logic, I didn't expect something more elaborate from the Guardian..." The witch hissed.

"So let us not waste time, I will not stop, you will not stop... demonstrate what you can do." She shouted with a squawking voice.

"As you wish, my lady..." The voice answered and the statue started emanating purple brilliance. Dark, slender shapes loomed into the view from nearby trees. Trees assumed the human form to oppose the witch and chase her away or eliminate entirely.

"Nice, I am impressed." The old woman replied. She formed a fireball throwing it straight at the closest standing monster.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Eyes of the young girl with brown hair tied into a plait were gazing at unemotional faces of men and one old woman sitting behind the long, wooden bench in the centre of the little room. One of men had a white beard, the rest of them were smoothly shaven. Everyone, including the white-haired woman, were dressed in bright, linen dresses and they had the same pendants hung on the neck as their younger acquaintance. Behind the girl, the mysterious man with a band on his eyes were standing in the shadows of the room. He smiled observing the conversation as if it entertained him.

"Our dreams came true. Prophecies told the truth! We're in the first day of the new era, on the eve of the birth of the world without hiding!" The girl was very excited with the message which she wanted to hand over. The bearded man settled himself more comfortably in his chair.

"Can you tell us everything one more time? But this time, calm down please, so that everyone can catch the meaning of your words." He asked smiling.

"Well... but my heart is beating so fast... I don't know, I can control myself..." The young woman announced.

"People from Drales' tower found my altar, they learnt that I and my family were practicing the forbidden art. They destroyed it completely and I was unlucky to come across one of them, when I had come back from morning's collecting of herbs. I escaped, I tried to disappear somewhere in the depths of the forest, in one of our hiding places, but they were much faster. They caught me... and then a miracle happened! My torturers were destroyed by two lightings, the spell none of us could create through decades!" The girl said gesticulating. The man lurking in the shadows geared himself up to join the conversation.

"Our master, the one who became the God by learning and understanding the magic, who created the Paradise in our lands and had to pay with his own life for this transgression, he is among us again!" In the girl's eyes tears of happiness appeared. Eyes of the bearded man became large from amazement. His two companions looked at each other whispering something. The old lady smiled.

"What are you talking about, child? Should you not rest, since you are daydreaming?" She said. The girl became sad.

"I'm bringing you the most wonderful news and you're averting your eyes from it? I'm alive and free after the meeting with people from the Oficium and this is probably the biggest evidence that I'm not trying to cheat you!"

The bearded man looked at brown haired girl. The girl stopped talking.

"Sidara... child... nobody of us claims that you want to cheat us because your heart is black. You are young, full of daydreams about world which passed a long time ago and you want to have traditions of your ancestors engraved upon your heart. We are grateful for it. But your opened heart became a victim of somebody, whose intentions may not be as pure as they seem to be."

"Before you, next to me, Fallax is standing... and you still cannot believe? Were all your teaching the words full of hypocrisy?" The girl was dissatisfied.

"Didn't his real power open your eyes?" She added.

"There are many people practicing magic against bans of the Oficium, who knows what they were able to learn outside the range of Golden Palace's eyes... the display of the power doesn't mean someone's divinity child..."

Impatient, Fallax joined in the conversation. In spite of blinding, he knew very well where other people had been. He stood up opposite him and asked Sidara to cease talking.

"Have you already forgotten what had been your duty, old man?" He said with the voice full of disrespect.

"Have you forgotten what the task of the Assembly of Four was after Executors had destroyed the Temple and killed my physical body?" He asked.

"To protect culture of our lands until the earthly body of our greatest master, Fallax returns. Every child in our families knows the history, you won't impress me." The bearded man replied.

"Your lack of the faith in your own past causes that anger is seizing me!"

The bearded old man became nervous. He rose from the wooden chair, and leaning on a walking stick came up to the young man.

"If you are indeed divine Fallax, why aren't you destroying the Golden Palace, why aren't you scattering the Oficium to the four winds? Why instead of rebuilding the Temple you are standing here, crippled and blind?" The old man shouted straight into the face of the magus.

"You are committing blasphemies old man! I am weakened after my awakening, but I am having enough strength to break one old tree! Do you want to see my power?"

Fallax raised the hand towards the old man's neck. He tightened it firmly and a green glow appeared around his body. The girl and other people in the chamber were too terrified to react. The man start sucking the vitality out from the bearded man. Simultaneously he directed it to his destroyed eyes hiding under the band. In only a few seconds, only a dried, empty shell remained after the bearded man. Fallax removed the band from his head showing healthy, green eyes.

"I came back and I took my rightful place in the Assembly of Four." He said gladly.

The old woman was looking at the landscape of the battlefield. The fire was consuming lying remains of tree people, reducing their long, thin limbs to ashes. The majority of guards were fallen down by fireballs of the witch, but some of them were still on their legs in spite of flames raging on their wooden bodies. The older witch looked at them with hateful eyes, hissing and spitting on her feet every couple of minutes.

"Do you still feel like fighting? Do you still want to defend this place?" She screamed, clasping the gnarled cane tightly.

"It is our purpose. We will not let you get to the gate, or we will die trying. " The voice of the black pole propagated over the forest clearings.

"As you wish." The witch squawked throwing three balls of fire towards living trees coming up to her. The beings were hit by the heat which reduced their limbs to ashes, causing that colossi to immediately fall down to the ground. The witch overlooked, that one of forest monsters had stalked her from the back. He stretched long, wooden fingers out in her direction with the intention of crushing her by his powerful hug. When he touched her body, strange things started to happen to him. His leaves on the head and the back became red, then yellow and after a moment, they fell out. All his members became numb, effectively immobilizing him. His hand rotted and broke into the small pieces, thanks to which, the woman could free herself.

"He, he, he" The witch laughed.

"I am as poisonous as a toad!" She added after a moment.

"Will you let me in, or do you want the greater body count?" She asked looking at the black pole towering over surroundings. The silence of the guardian indicated the agreement on the further fight.

"I must finish it once and for all." The old person thought. She spat on grass and in the place, in which her spit fell, a swarm of black, repulsive insects started forming. Soon, it was so many of them that the sky above the forest became black and the sound of their wings filled surroundings with overwhelming anxiety. Insects attacked everything what was a part of moving plants, and wasn't afflicted by the fire. They cut leaves, branches, chewed on the bark from fat trunks. Slow creatures had no chance in the clash with fast and dangerous opponent. When the witch noticed that almost all trees had been wiped out, she whistled, causing that insects to fly away in the four winds. Surroundings became even more depressing. Stumps of dead trees, deprived of leaves and bark, eaten by white larvae protruded everywhere. Large pylon, which had been surrounded by the green of forest until recently, stood in the middle of dead land, dried off and burnt by the fire.

"Your opposition is admirable. But I cannot let you go through the gate. I must personally defend of the place, which is sacred for the universe." The booming voice of the obelisk sounded around. A shining blue net appeared on the surface of the pole. After a few seconds, the lighting formed the elaborate web of crossing bundles, looking like the web carried out by a mechanical spider from a distant future. The web effectively isolated the witch from the part of forest.

"You're raising the level of difficulty of this game... well. But don't think that you will manage to stop me!"

Meanwhile, in the world in which Morpheus' team was trapped, a dark night reigned. Jessica, Matts and Rann, disguised in black guard's uniforms, were walking toward the tower, in which other members of their team were locked up. Luckily, they didn't meet a patrol or people from the village. Unfortunately, they also didn't come across Sakiko or the raven belonging to Morpheus. They were already very close their longed-for purpose. Coming up to the building leading gates to the interior, they stopped.

"Listen, we must behave as if we knew this place. Otherwise they'll start suspecting us. If it happens, nobody of us will be able to fight with the entire garrison, even I." Rann Shaner said.

"When we enter the stronghold, we must split and search two parts of the tower individually. We will start with basements, because it is the most probable place of holding prisoners."

"Why two? There's three of us, so we can check in three various places. " Matts asked.

"No. Jessica must be with you because in case of trouble, she can't speak. I noticed no women amongst soldiers which can indicate, that the service of women is forbidden. Her voice will betray our presence."

"Nice..." The girl said.

"Well. Since it's necessary. Perhaps it's better, we'll be together all the time." Matts said to the black-haired girl.

"Exactly." Jessica replied.

"End of chatting, we'll be inside the stronghold in a minute." Rann hushed up all talking.

There was nothing unusual behind the door, just ordinary stone walls, the cold walls without any variety. One of guards passed by them, not keeping an eye on the group, because he thought that they were his friends coming back from the patrol. Rann went towards the long corridor with the wooden doors and Jessica and Matts came off the opposite way, into the corridor turning deep into the building. Rann found stairs leading to lower levels, located below the level of ground. Guessing that this was the very probable place of holding his acquaintances, he decided to comb it inch by inch. Unfortunately he didn't have much luck, because he came across the closed door after a few minutes, additionally guarded by the armed man.

"I am sorry, you can't go farther." The soldier said. Rann knew that he had headed in an appropriate direction.

"Why?" He asked.

"Only Drales can access the dungeons, it's his last order. We expect envoys of the Oficium arriving and until then all contact with prisoners is forbidden."

"Come on, I wanted to see these heretics. The similar chance may not repeat itself." Rann said examining the reaction of his interviewed person.

"An order is an order, I cannot let nobody in!" The guard replied.

"You're a bloody martinet." Rann didn't feel like talking anymore. He knew that he would have to think out other way of getting to prisoners.

Meanwhile, Jessica and Matts reached the little chamber being a vestibule leading to stairs. They noticed that they were leading only to the upper deck of the tower.

"I don't think that we're lucky." Matts said.

"They aren't probably being kept at the top..." He added.

"Who knows? Perhaps they're on the last floor. Towers sometimes served as imprisonment places. Perhaps it's worthwhile checking." The girl suggested. The boy agreed with her, but still remained skeptical.

"Okay, they can be there and you can be right. But somebody important can be at the top also, somebody who will recognize us who with an ease. We're risking everything."

"And you wanted everything to be simple? We're supposed to get somebody out of the imprisonment, somebody who broke the law of these lands. Did you want to do it without thrills of emotion?" The girl smiled through the dark pane of her helmet.

"Enough chatting. Let us already up walk." They came up the stairs, winding like a screw line, on the top floor. When the girl touched the cold wall, a vision appeared in her head. She stood in the middle of a street of some large city. Everything around her was green, earth, pavements and streets, buildings, towers of the distant castle, even clouds and the sky. Jessica instinctively sensed that this place hadn't been something natural, it was created by some dangerous power. At some point, she realized that a long-haired man had stood on one of towers. He wore a green armor and ring being on fire with real, green flame was on the finger of his right hand. The man noticed the girl, he directed his ring at her, and then fired a stream of flames. Jessie felt the intense heat, warmness attacking her from every side, not giving her chance of catching her breath. In the real world, convulsions shook her body. Overbalancing, she leaned against the wall. Matts immediately came up to her, simultaneously checking whether the strange behavior of the girl didn't attract the attention of somebody whom he perhaps might not notice earlier.

"Jessica! What's going on?" He asked.

"I had a vision. I must take this helmet off. I'm really hot... " She said.

"Damn it! Not here! Somebody can notice us... wait..." Matts announced looking at the first door which he came across on the top floor of the building. He looked into interior and having become convinced that there was nobody there, he led the girl there. He closed the door, simultaneously sliding the wooden bolt back. The room turned out to be the small storage in which some wooden objects were being held, probably parts of the stronghold's furnishing. Jessica sat down on the floor, quickly took her helmet off. After a moment, she also unbuttoned her black uniform. Matts noticed that the girl's face was covered by sweat and she was breathing with difficulty.

"Jessica, what's going on? You look as if you've just left the sauna!" He asked.

"I'm feeling much worse. I had some very intensive revelation... it influenced my body."

"Calm down, cool down a bit, say nothing... will you faint?"

"No, I'm feeling better, give me a few minutes." Jessie closed her eyes. After a moment , she was ready to share her vision with the boy.

"We must hurry up. This guy with the long hair... in my vision, he had Alan's ring, he used it to create the entire city... he destroyed us... wanted to burn me... we cannot allow it."

"Jessica, it was only a vision. It won't become reality." Matts replied.

"Even if this happens, I'll protect you." He added. The girl smiled.

"Ok, let's get in touch with Rann." He said getting up off the floor. The boy handed the helmet to her.

"Don't forget about it, there is cold here, you must convince your organism that what you felt was only an illusion."

Fallax was sitting on the wooden throne, until recently belonging to the old man, whose dried off body lay by the room's wall. People in the chamber didn't dare to comment on the felony, to speak a single one word, in fear of their own life. Their eyesight betrayed that they not entirely believed in the divinity of their guest, but his extraordinary abilities caused that they weren't arguing with him anymore. Young Sidara was simultaneously horrified and fascinated with the man, she felt the thrill of emotion just by looking at his miraculously healed eyes. Fallax knew that the girl had a potential to become his most faithful believer and to help him to recover the power over the entire lands. He turned to the surviving members of the council of elders.

"Who are you? Why there is a woman between you? Did you forget about our principles?"

"My lord, so much time have passed since your death... the entire centuries... the world isn't the same as you remember it." One of men replied.

"I want to know... I want to know what happened while I slept in my dream repeating itself ad infinitum! I want to know what happened with my world!"

"It is a very long story. I can introduce you to main events... many of them are only legends now..."

"Speak!"

"When the Temple collapsed and you were defeated, the Assembly of Four, your most faithful followers as well as everyone who survived, had to escape from our land and hide in the hills, where they lived as nomads generation after generation, cultivating the magic and waiting for your second arrival. We lost secret books and artifacts which once gave us the power over time and space. Executors built new state, full of wonderful miracles created by the genius of the human mind and the hardship of the labor. Their power was strict, but just. They believed that they had rescued the world from your anger, therefore they didn't let people knowing the magic to gather in one place, in one land. They invited us, highlanders remembering about the former glory, to live between them, in their cities touching the sky. They let us live in the peace and practice the magic, if it didn't lead to something too dangerous. They also didn't let rebuild the Temple in which you underwent the transformation, My Lord. Our cultures mix together, giving us common benefits. With time The Assembly of Four seated in the Palace of Stars ascending above all buildings, by the most outstanding leaders of Annites, as Executors really named themselves. Their country was powerful, but too big. Internal disputes tossed it, there were many roads their masters wanted to follow, which were completely different from each other. People of the North harassed us more and more, envying our prosperity and the magic-technical power. Soon their armies grew into power, we were able to defend the most distant areas of our world with an effort. A few of us used the chance to restore the ancient rituals and power which you had at your disposal. They wanted to reconstruct the formula, that gave a divinity to a man, they wanted to destroy Annites and rebuild the Temple. They failed and the defeat cost many lives. After this tragedy, all your people were driven out. Unfortunately, unaided by the magic, Annites could not longer defend themselves against attacks of the People of the North. Their cities were destroyed and the Palace of Stars came down like the house of cards. Their world ceased to exist, many of them was captured and others escaped into hills the same as we at one time. A schism took place in the Assembly of Four. One of us, Saronius acknowledged that all disasters which met us, had been associated with the magic and the attempt to reconstruct the former power you had, my Lord. Along with his supporters as well as hundreds of Annites, he decided to go to the expedition in search for better lands, forbidding the ones which followed him to use all the magic. The three of us, who remained, decided, that The Assembly of Four will embrace one woman. They chose Aleandra, the old prophetess. Since then, every Assembly of Four has been composed of three men and one woman. We have lived in the state destroyed by wars and occupied by people fighting with each other for many years. We weren't able to become powerful enough to destroy invaders, but in spite of it we could live in hope for your arrival and the restoration of our state. Our land was invaded by armies of the north, but this time they were led by somebody unexpected. The old man, Saronius, followed by hundreds of armed Annites and our brothers as well as a few clans of People of the North, whom he had urged to cooperate in a way known only to him, attacked the weakened cities. Saronius was victorious, he retook the capital city and soon other provinces. The ones which weren't expelled, joined him. In the place of the ancient Palace of Stars, the Golden Palace was built and the city was granted a name: Margouth. Saronius believed that his victory had been a merit of breaking all contacts with the magic and was convinced that destruction of the magic and all divine worship of the wizard could be an only way to keep the power and the permanent peace. Oficium Antimagicum came into the existence. Saronius' successors effectively destroyed everything, which remained after the former Temple and we, your disciples, were forced to live in seclusion."

"The situation looks tragic, but now when I am living again, the victory is only a matter of time!" Fallax said laughing.

"It is necessary to punish the one who betrayed our holy past." The man which told a brief story of his state added.

When Sakiko rushed on the horse along the road, a night still reigned over the world, but the first rays of the waking up Sun, came out from behind the horizon. The girl didn't feel tiredness, or hunger for blood, her attention was focused entirely on the task of finding the graveyard, where she was supposed to find the next clue concerning the possibility of the escape from the unfamiliar land. At some point she felt that her horse had been alarmed, just as if he got scared of something strange. She stopped him, touched him with both hands, trying to work on his mind and to calm him. Then she heard the strange whirr. She looked upwards, noticing the flying machine moving smoothly above the peaks of trees. The vehicle had ribbed wings and the rudder, blue gondola decorated with gilded ornaments. It stayed in air thanks to the big balloon and reached its speed thanks to two airscrews put on both sides of the gondola. The aircraft moved towards the place from which the girl arrived. After a short stop and crossing the hill, the female vampire noticed the city enclosed with walls in the distance, with a few impressive buildings erected, one of which was with the magnificent golden roof. Sakiko reached Margouth, her longed-for purpose.

In the same time, Jessica and Matts were surprised by one of guards from the tower. The girl managed to put the helmet on at the last moment, hiding her identity from the stranger.

"What are you still doing here?" The man shouted.

"We just came back from the patrol..." Matts answered.

"Couldn't you hear the order? You're supposed to immediately turn up before the entry to the stronghold. At dawn, the envoys from the Antimagicum Oficium will arrive! Their sky-high eagle has already taken off from roofs of the Golden Palace!"

"We will go there right away!" Matts announced quickly and firmly.

"Yes, you wouldn't like to irritate Drales, now when he is excited with caught heretics."

The man went somewhere. Jessica and Matts guessed that they had very little time. Envoys from the Oficium arrival could mean only and exclusively trouble, both for them and for their imprisoned friends.

"We must find Rann!" The girl said.

"If the order was for everyone from the Tower, we'll probably meet with him outside. Let us walk!"

The witch stood opposite the obelisk looking at it angrily. Mesh of blue rays was becoming more and more thick and hope for destroying in without receiving any wounds was fading with every passsing moment.

"You desecrated this place with your vile goblets witch, therefore I decided that I could not set you free. You will be imprisoned the same as the one whom you want to meet so much. My decision is irreversible." The metallic voice sounded as the echo coming from some non-existent borders of forest clearings.

"I didn't want to do it... but my mission is much more important than the existence of this place. You still have one chance, set me free, or else I will have to use the most powerful magic to destroy both you and the seal which you are looking after."

"My decision is irreversible. " The voice of the black guard repeated.

"Mine also, you long, protruding cock!" The witch squawked raising her gnarled cane above her head. The Earth around her, started shaking, uttering the very loud and worrying sound. Bumps appeared in the place where foundations of the guard were, and soon two very coarse spices covered with hundreds of spikes erupted from them. Plants covered the surface of the black pylon, squeezing into its body with enormous might. Cracks appeared on the stone. Shining rays dematerialized one after the other and the criss-cross of blue radii flashed, as if it was supposed to disappear forever. Plants bit into the guard even more firmly, crushing its armor and getting to esoteric circuits being the source of its power. After a moment, they injured something important in its interior and webs protecting the road to one of the most guarded places in the world, ceased to exist. The witch looked at her work of destruction, horribly looking cracked pole covered with creepers. No voice came from dead rock.

"I didn't want it do it, but you didn't leave any other choice to me. The Awakening turned up in the universe again, this time in the land of the Master of Dreams. The squad collected by Morpheus is as weak and as inexperienced as we were, when Destruction, the bearded brother of Lord of Dreams. Our expedition was a tragedy, many still suffers from its journey. I cannot let it happen again. I cannot." The witch turned into the lane surrounded by numerous trees. When she underwent a few steps, she entered the unusual place The forest growing above the woman took the form of the huge building. Kinked branches formed the elaborate web of structural members resembling vaults of large European cathedrals. Leaves formed narrow windows and the sunlight penetrating through them seemed to come from stained glass dyed green. Large trunks constituted the buttress system supporting the weight of the huge, living temple. Birds among the branches of the trees were a choir at the unusual Church devoted to the mother nature. The place was wonderful, it took the breath away by its largeness symbolizing the power of the nature and was filled up with the indisputable holiness. Nobody would suppose that it also hid one of the most despicable beings in the universe, it was a prison for Astaroth, the infernal demon who chosen by the Endless as one of travelers fighting against the Awakening centuries ago was, but turned out to be a traitor and because of that biggest crime he had to become a prisoner of the Forest Cathedral, lying at the frontiers of the Destruction's domain, for the eternity. The witch opened the covered gate with creepers, being the last obstacle between her and the cell of the demon. She entered the huge room, submerged in a semi-darkness lighted by narrow beams of lights bursting through the unusually thick web of branches building walls and the ceiling. When she took a few steps and her eyes got used to darkness, she caught the sight of the prisoner of the chamber. Tall man with long hair, dressed in a dark robe, stood with turned to the wall. When he noticed that, for the first time, he hadn't been alone in his prison, he slowly turned around and looked at his unexpected guest. His eyes gleamed, as if miniature galaxies were in their interior and the white of his skin caused that the air around had become cooler.

"What's a nice surprise, Juan..." He said bowing to the witch.

"Why are you in this repulsive form? What won't you choose something more pleasant for eyes and more aesthetic than the old body?" He asked.

"It's my business how I want to look! It's not for your eyes!" The witch replied angrily.

"Why have you come to this place? Did you arrive to free me? Have you understood, that my mission had been right?"

"Nothing of the kind! I need to learn from you one thing! Right after I know it, I will leave you so that you could die here through the entire eternity!"

"There is no need to show aggression. You are afraid of me although you know that I am here defenseless, you are trying to hide your fear with shouts. It is as typical for mortals, even having as long life as you." Astaroth replied calmly.

"I didn't come here for the psychoanalysis, I have a question!"

"Well. Since you don't want to lighten my solitude up even with a moment of a conversation, we can proceed to business. Before, I liked customers who cared only about the agreement. Perhaps my solitude is a penalty for wasn't being too sociable? What do you want Juan from me?"

"I want to know where the Morning Star is!" The witch confessed. Astaroth burst out laughing.

"Why I am supposed to know such things? The prince is the most probably in his domain, in Dis, where he stays for the beginnings of the Universe."

"Don't lie. You know that Lucifer left the Hell, starting his never-ending journey into all worlds! I know that you are able to find him and his other generals anywhere at all. I want to know where he is and I don't have a lot of time." The witch shouted tightening her hands on the cane.

"Let us suppose that what you are saying is a true and I know how to find the Morning Star. What will I gain sharing this knowledge with you?"

Juan was smiling showing the jaw deprived of many teeth.

"You have a debt, have you already forgot? The promise..." The demon clenched fists. His face expressed great anger and eyes were on fire with glitter of colliding galaxies.

"There is no need to show aggression." The witch said calmly.

"Well... you won. I will find Lucifer for you, but you must tell me why you need him!"

"Of course. The Awakening turned up in the world of Morpheus and he collected the group in order to stop her. Group compound of mortals."

Astaroth laughed again.

"Mortals? Even we stopped her from destroying everything with an effort! How power which gods and demons are afraid of, which the God himself is afraid of, is supposed to be stopped by mortals?"

"Therefore I must help them. I need to contact with the Morning Star."

"Well... you were a constant source of amusement for me, so I will help you. How am I supposed to find Lucifer? From this place one can't see any stars, so my astrology will help you little, Juan."

"But the Tarot will always work. " The witch replied giving a pack of cards, which she had always carried in her bag, to the demon.

In the world in which the team of Morpheus got lost, a dawn was breaking. The Sun loomed from behind the horizon and the neighborhood was engulfed in the milk-white fog. All guards gathered in front of Drales' tower, they stood one next to the other, all waiting nervously for the appearance of the commander. Everyone had uniforms as well as helmets on, thanks to which Rann, Matts and Jessica could be between them arousing no suspicions. Drales appeared in the front of the stronghold, he looked at soldiers counting them one after another. Something didn't appeal to him, he started counting them again.

"Are these everyone?" He asked the guard standing closest to him.

"No... one didn't come back from the patrol. He was sent in search for the rest of heretics." The man replied.

"Am I supposed to give the command of taking helmets off? To check who is absent?" He asked.

"No... we don't have a time. They will be here right away." Drales said. Rann Shaner felt a big relief. After a moment, the eyes of everyone turned at the sky on which the air ship of envoys from the Golden Palace sailed. Drales ordered his subordinates to stay in two rows, in order to look the best they could in the presence of important persons travelling by the strange plane. The flying machine sat down in the clearing in the nearby distance from the entry to the tower. Its moving airscrews generated the striking wind and the hissing of gasses in the balloon filled surroundings with the noise deafening all other local sounds. Drales met envoys half way. Two persons stepped out of the vehicle, men in blue robes, both middle-aged. One of them was holding a long walking stick with the ornament in the shape of a hand.

"Welcome you in this beautiful land, dignified envoys of the Golden Palace. I hope that your travel wasn't too tiring... I am Drales, representative of warriors fighting for the cleanness of the idea of great Saronius, do you wish something special, venerable men?"

"No, we set off from Margouth as soon as we received the signal about catching heretics by you and your people. We want take them to the capital city where will be judged by Oficium Antimagicum as soon as possible." one of men said.

"We want to see them and judge if they are dangerous." He added second.

"Of course. I will lead you to dungeons, where these rogues were isolated from the rest of world in order not to promote their heresies."

Drales pointed at the tower and two men headed in its direction. Jessica and Matts was looking at everything with a concern. Rann came out ahead of the row, in the hope of being chosen by Drales to help his guests. His dream came true, because the long-haired man called him with one move of his hand.

"You are going with me. You will be protecting our honored guests, if any of prisoners turned out to be a threat for them."

"Yes, my lord." Rann answered obediently. Jessica and Matts decided to trust him, so they were silent ignoring the eyes of other men in black uniforms.

Astaroth and Juan stood opposite each other by the round table covered with green moss. A single ray of light fell on the man's face which miraculously was able to pass through the thick tangle of branches building the prison. His eyes lodged on the table top on which many cards, portraying different symbols from the history of humanity were spread. Hands of the demon gently touched surfaces of cards, as if, through the physical contact, he was supposed to learn the truth sought after by his very old familiar.

"Yes... I know where he is!" Astaroth shouted taking hands away from the table.

"Where? " The witch was made impatient.

"I do not know the name this place, this land... I am not able to remember it, although my eyes could see all worlds roamed by any of my old companions. I can take you there, to move if really you want it."

"Don't mock me! You are imprisoned here! You cannot move from here." The witch burst with shout because she thought that the demon was making fun of her.

"I am imprisoned, but my power is great. I cannot leave this place, or interact with any of worlds, but I can open my doors with an ease. Am I supposed to do it, Juan?"

"Yes!" The witch hit the floor of the chamber with her walking stick. Black-haired man moved away from the table, he gently smiled. At that very moment, the gate portraying some distant meadow appeared behind the back Juan.

"Well... you paid your debt off, demon." The witch took her divination cards.

"Wait. I didn't tell you the whole of my prophecy. There is something more what you should know about. Somebody, who is neither angel nor the one who fell, wants to use the team of the Master of Dreams for his own needs. His action will send the team for the journey all over dangerous worlds, in which my brothers in sin live. He wants to destroy them and believes that thanks to the Awakening, he will manage to do it."

"Wait! We must stop him!" The old woman screamed, but Astaroth remained deaf to her requests. The woman soon disappeared in the portal.

"The first step for my freeing happened today..." The demon said aloud hiding in shadows of his cell.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sakiko reached the walls of Margouth, the major city in lands and at the same time its capital, in which the Golden Palace, the symbol of the whole continent's rulers was built. The road leading to gates meandered between hills covered by forests and green meadows. Life went on around the nearby houses, women were bringing water from a well and men were leading cattle and geese out to grazing areas. Carts from distant places headed for the city, all filled up with goods which were supposed to be sold there on the biggest marketplace. The girl wasn't going to enter inside the walls, since she guessed that graveyard, sole purpose of her travel, was placed away from the central part of the city. As it turned out soon, her instinct was true. Matthew, the adviser to the Master of Dreams, returned from reconnaissance and glided around her head. When Sakiko stretched her hand out, the bird sat down on her wrist.

"Have you found our graveyard, Matthew?" The girl asked.

"Yes, it's behind this hill. It adjoins to the walls of the city. It's enclosed too, but there's no problem with getting inside, because there is no locked gate."

"Good work. We're going there."

"And don't you want to rest? There are many interesting things in this city. Look at these palace towering over everything..." The raven suggested.

"No, Matthew. The rest counts on us and we cannot disappoint them."

"I know, I know... but when all is finished we should look around there."

"If this all ends, I hope I finally will be able to come back to my own world." The girl replied.

When she went to the other side of the hills, she noticed the graveyard concealed behind breaking down walls engulfed with milk-white fog. She unmounted the horse and having established the telepathic bond with it, she asked the animal to stay in the place chosen by her. She wanted to walk the rest of the route on feet. The black raven flew over tombs sticking out of the fog, the majority of which had the stone sculpture with strange, oval shape, exactly the same as the ones staying alone in all lands of the continent nearby more or less busy roads. The girl disappeared behind the stone fence, simultaneously taking the scepter out, the same one which she had found in basements of the tower belonging to the mage Zibo in the past. She hoped that the object would get in touch with her once again and give her some hint, a sign to find a place in which she should have seek the grave of its owner. In spite of her extraordinary sharpened senses, she didn't guess that she had been observed from a distance. Two people, the bearded man and his companion with black hair and violet eyes stood on the nearby hill. They were in a long distance from the young female vampire, but their eyes were pointed at her, as they could see every her movement in some strange, preternatural way.

"She already reached here. We almost didn't make it." The girl said.

"We did it. It could not happen differently. How could you doubt my wings which carry you between the worlds?"

"I never doubted you. But unexpected events are happening to us from the beginning of our expedition."

"You must focus now. When this woman finds the place prepared by us and our homunculus rises from his artificial grave, you must say by his mouth the words of the prophecy which you heard the first time in our golden globe. You cannot make a mistake with any of Endless' attributes or with any of the worlds. Otherwise, they will get lost again and will go to the world uninteresting to us. Remember that their path must be exactly the same as the way of the Awakening to the Garden of Destiny. If the path forks even for one moment, we won't make it on time."

"Do not worry. These words come to me each night and they're in my head always when my thoughts aren't busy with something else."

At the same time, Sakiko strode amongst funeral stones sticking out from the ground on both sides of the graveyard avenue filled in with leaves fallen from tall trees growing here and there in the necropolis. Grotesque gargoyles guarding the peace of some graves looked at the girl with their unseeing look which filled everyone with a fear. The female vampire wielded the scepter in the hand hoping that she would be able to experience some new vision, but the object was silent all the time. At some point Sakiko noticed the tomb standing close by, different than the rest of graves, built from a bright stone, not decorated so richly as other sarcophagi in the neighborhood. The scepter seemed to increase its temperature, as if it wanted to communicate some important information this way. When the girl turned towards the tomb, it became even warmer. The bird observing his companion from the branch of one of the largest trees in surroundings, rose up into the air and soon placed itself on her shoulder.

"What happened? You aren't moving at least two minutes."

"It's here Matthew." Sakiko replied.

"How do you know? I noticed nothing."

"When I passed nearby this tomb, the scepter started reacting. It woke up from its sleep. It became warm and its surface deforms rhythmically as if it's breathing." The female vampire put the magic object to the ear and then showed it to her companion.

"Listen to beating of its internal heart."

"It's terrifying." Matthew replied.

"It's beautiful. The object revived at the moment when it approached the grave of its dead owner. Is it not a bond lasting outside the time and space?"

"For me it's bizarre and horrifying. How a scepter can breathe? I should be accustomed to all strangeness after years in the land of my boss, but they sometimes know no bounds. It's too much for me."

"Wait. We still don't know what will happen, when we enter this tomb."

"I'm not going to find out. I can guess what will happen and I don't intend to see it. Do you understand? You're going inside alone. And I... I will be guarding surroundings. I will be watching if somebody suspected is approaching. You must have some bodyguard, right?"

"Ok. Stay here if you're afraid. I'm going in." The girl said and moved in the direction of the opened gate to the inside of the crypt. The door slammed shut a moment after she was inside and the scepter started vibrating, heating up much faster than before and it also started to shine with a strange glitter. Interior lightened up with its gleam revealed walls covered with layers of dust and webs. The catafalque with a stone coffin standing on the central place appeared in the front of the girl's eyes. The lid opened with an unpleasant grinding sound and a cloud of ashes got out of its inside. Dusts carried by a magic wind went up and swirled around the girl like a tornado. The heat of the magic object was unbearable, even for the person with the increased physical strength. Sakiko threw it straight into the middle of the cloud forming before her. In the same moment, a hand formed from the dust and immediately caught the magic object. The scepter glowed with a brightness from which the girl had to shield her eyes and cloud of ashes assumed shape of the human figure. The object gave the stored energy to human remains, causing that they became more and more material with every passing second. Bones, soft tissues, internal organs and muscles, skin and at the end white robes formed in front of female vampire's eyes. The scepter fulfilled its role, its duty to which it had been created. It sacrificed its unnatural life to give its former owner and the creator the second chance for terrestrial existence. It became black and cold and after a moment changed into a cloud of dust, exactly the same as the one from which the man was resurrected. A man in bright robes, with long, white beard and a bald pate stood before the girl. His blue eyes were looking at her with a curiosity. Female vampire was shocked by this extraordinary phenomenon of dead man rising from the grave.

"Who are you? Why did you get me back?" The old man asked.

"I... I found something that belonged to you in the tower of mage Zibo." The girl replied with trembling voice. The event surprised her very much, but she decided to behave as if she knew very well what had happened around her.

"Ah yes... now the memory is coming back to me..." The grey haired man said.

"I remember the day I created the dish protecting the copy of my awareness so it can resurrects my body when the right time comes... you know what, I didn't suppose that it would work!" He continued.

"Why am I still sitting here? Too long, I lay on the cold stone!" He said looking at catacombs located behind him. He moved in the direction of the exit, ignoring the girl.

"Hey! Wait!" Sakiko shouted stopping the wizard.

"What do you want from me? Sitting in these stinking basement made me bored!" The upset bearded man replied.

"I revived you a moment ago! Can you at least hear me out?"

"My scepter, which I designed for the occasion of my death from hands of one of my terrible enemies, revived me. You only brought it here! Looking at you I'm guessing that you won't desert me if I don't hear you out, so well... say what you have to say and be conceited from here as soon as possible!"

"I... I brought the scepter to you, because I need help... I don't come from this world... I got here by an accident... along with other travelers similar to me..."

"It starts become interesting. But I don't know what my role is in all of this."

"I don't understand what is happening here myself, I can only tell you what happened to me since I met with the witch..."

"Yeah nice... now women started to deal with magic!"

"Can you not interrupt me? When I met with the witch and I entered the basement of her house, my life was turned upside down. I met somebody who claimed to be the Master of Dreams, one of the Endless family... the reality is in danger, because being called the Awakening wants to destroy it and to build it anew in its own design. Morpheus, me and other people similar to me, we set off in order to fight with this being, but her spells caused that, we were sent to some unknown land instead to the heart of the Dreaming, deprived of possibility of the escape."

"The things you're talking about don't have any sense to me. But I rose from the cloud of dusts a moment ago, what can have any meaning in this world?" The old man waved the hand like chasing some flies away and moved with the intention to exit from the crypt.

"Morpheus, the Master of Dreams who seeks somebody who knows a way of leaving this world sent me here. He told me that if I search long enough, some sign will show me the way to somebody who knows the way. The scepter in the tower of the magus gave me the sign and brought me to you, exactly as the King of Dreams foretold.

"How was he called? Can you repeat for me?" The grey haired grandpa came closer to the girl listening closely to her words.

"Morpheus, the Master of Dreams, one of the Endless Family. He named himself with these words..."

In the same moment, the eyes of the old man shone with blue light and his hands started shivering. A gleaming tablet appeared on his head. The wizard caught hands of the girl forcing her to move closer to him. Sakiko tried to use her increased strength to free herself. In a vain, because the hug of the grey haired man was as powerful as the steel vice.

"Somebody or something wants to give you a message girl! Somebody or something has a message for the one which brought all of you together! Look into my eyes and listen to the message!" The female vampire did as ordered. She had no choice, because the magus didn't let her move even by a distance one millimeter. The strong voice of the man sounded in her head and at the same time unusual visions flowed into her brain.

"Take this card and hand it over to the one who found you. But remember not to tell him where you got it from. He cannot find the truth or the Awakening will learn where you are and then send you to some completely different reality again, perhaps much more terrible than the one in which you are now. Remember, take this card and hand it over to Morpheus!"

Sakiko closed her eyes, but in spite of it she could see the blue light of the card stuck to the head of the elderly man. Brilliance was stronger than eyelids of the girl, it got directly to her brain pouring it with visions of worlds and times about which the girl didn't dream in the most fantastic dreams which she occasionally had since the time of her transformation. She could see cities in the flames of the war, hundreds of people going along destroyed routes with the entire belongings of their life, looking with a fear at huge flying machines, heralding the fire falling off the sky. She looked at the land plunged in snowstorms, the frozen castle being the only protection from the frost and the enormous cathedral, ascending up to the sky, so large that it could hold the city in its interior, resounding with the singing of hooded men. She had before her very eyes a scenes with large metropolis, full of the artificial neon lights, skyscrapers and tens of metal robots flying around like swarms of mosquitoes around the lamp post on the dark night as well as the fleet of snow-white interplanetary ships, bigger than cities, afloat on the low orbit of some strange planet. She was a bystander of the odd film portraying forests full of huge trees, deserts inhabited by monsters bigger than mountains, psychedelic colorful places with meadows overgrown by bizarrely looking mushrooms and flawlessly clean corridors lighted by ghastly wan lightings from balls levitating above the floor.

"What was this?" The terrified girl shouted. She threw the old man away from herself going towards the exit.

"How am I supposed to know? I was dead a moment ago!" The old man screamed opening wide the door to the crypt. He quickly ran out outside and after a moment he disappeared behind one of breaking down gravestones.

"Don't ask about anything more and come back to your team! Give Lord Dream what you got from me and don't try to walk after me! Did you understand?" He screamed disappearing in the fog still settling above the graveyard. When Sakiko resulted from the tomb, the raven immediately join her. The bird could see the escaping man in white robes and found him to be very interesting.

"Who's this?" The girl asked.

"The one whom we looked for. The scepter revived him and it turned out that he had an important news to Morpheus. It's strange isn't it?"

"Yes... strange and bizarre. But don't be upset by it so much. Living in the company of my boss a little longer, you will start to understand the logic of dreams. What did this old geezer tell you?"

"I must give something to Morpheus. The card which I got from the old man."

"What is on this card?"

"I don't have a clue. The old man told me that I must hand it over to Morpheus if I want to get out of this place. The fact that he seemed to be even more disorientated and surprised by this than me is the most interesting. It really stars to become strange and more and more horrifying to me."

"Who knows, perhaps Morpheus, some time ago, put the card which you are talking about in the dream of this man to help him just in case... something like this happened to him? Perhaps all that's happened so far is his intricately woven plan of defeating the Awakening?"

"Perhaps it's exactly like this and I really would like you to be right. At the moment, we don't have an alternative option of getting out and therefore we must risk. Let us not waste time and let us come back to the rest."

"Here we have a problem. Don't you remember that they were caught by these people in black? We must think how to get them out of the cell."

"Therefore we must come back quickly. We will think about how to free them in a travel."

"Well." The raven replied rising high above the head of the girl. Sakiko put the strange card to the pocket, looked around and moved in the direction of the exit gate from the graveyard.

The mysterious couple observed the entire event from the nearby hill. The man with a long hair looked straight ahead with eyesight deprived of any emotions and his black-haired companion sat on the grass. She was pale and breathed with difficulty, she did something what exhausted her very much a moment ago. The man standing beside her seemed not to bother about her medical condition, he was rather interested with the result which her action brought.

"Can you get up?" He asked.

"Give me a moment. Our homunculus rose from remains of somebody really powerful. I didn't know it would be so hard for me to control it and to give visions of our Golden Globe to that girl. I was almost struck by the reversal of the magic vector... I defended myself in the last moment."

"So he tried to take over your body?" He asked long-haired.

"Yes... already in the first moment of his resurrection."

"How it could be? after all you only animate bodies and their ghosts still stay in the spirit world."

"It was like this until now. This time something happened, which I could not predict."

"Unimportant. We managed to give her visions and this is the only thing that matters. Everything is going according to our original plan." The bearded man smiled. He extended a hand to the girl, helping her to get up from a wet grass.

"Yes, let us go, because she can notice us." The black-haired one announced.

"Hold on a bit!" Someone's voice sounded suddenly. As it turned out, the bearded old man revived in the crypt climbed to the hill with lively step, simultaneously waving both hands. The wind blew his white beard and remains of grey hair.

"You won't run away from me!" He screamed pointing finger at the couple of travelers.

"How did he guess? " The girl asked the friend, but she didn't expect to hear any logical reply.

"Am I supposed to take care of him?" The blonde man was ready to fight.

"No. Perhaps something will become clear when we talk with him."

The grandfather was opposite two secret wanderers. He looked at violet eyes of the girl and at the bearded man the moment later.

"You must you answer my question! Why did you restore my bodily form?" He screamed threatening the couple with his bony finger.

Drales and two envoys from the Golden Palace as well as a few guards from the tower stood opposite the cell in which the considerable part of the Master of Sleeping Hosts' team was locked. Drales was talking how he unmasked them, caught them pillaging Zibo's tower red-handed and then defeated them and put them in dungeons of his stronghold. Men listened to him with declining interest simultaneously looking at people sitting on the other side of the bars. Members of the team behaved according to the advice of Morpheus, they didn't answer verbal insults of the long-haired man trying to retain the total calmness. Alan worried what had happened with his ring, because he realized that it was harder and harder to control it from a distance for him. The Heart of the Star living in his magic object answered calls of the Drales' mind, trying to break the control of the original Green Lantern. The object could soon become a tool of inconceivable damage. The other person, who was not dealing with emotions accumulating in her, was Narea. The girl felt worse since Drales took the bag with her crystals from her. She spent two nights without healing meditation and started sensing effects of the lack of the therapy significant for her. She disregarded words of the friend trying to encourage her and her eyes tracked one of guards holding her valuable property all the time. The man from the capital of the land had a lot of questions, but actually only one outweighed.

"Did you get some corroborating evidence that persons kept by you really were dealing with the forbidden magic? Something more than imaginations of the peasant from the village?"

" I told how they were caught a moment ago."

"It still means nothing." The other stranger from the capital city announced.

"Perhaps they were just idiots seeking the wealth where they should not? Many like them came and go through Chambers of the Truth of our palace. We don't have time to take care of somebody like them."

Drales smiled and asked the man keeping him company to gave him the bag with Narea's crystals. Seeing it, the girl clenched fists.

"Certainly I wouldn't bother you, honored envoys of the Golden Palace, if I didn't have proofs of guilt of these people. Please look at what they had with themselves..."

Long-haired man took one of jewels out of a bag. Both men looked at it with a huge interest and one of them simultaneously looked at the signet ring on one of his fingers.

"Indeed... there is some strange energy in this crystal..." He said moving his sight all over the surface of his ring.

"Don't hurt them! They're important family memento!" The black-haired girl shouted, although her companions tried to calm her. Immediately she gained attention of all present.

"Really?" The one of envoys spoke.

"You can see venerable men... this witch is worrying about her trinkets!"

The man with the ring took one of crystal from hands of the long-haired guard and came closer to the bars behind which members of the team were locked.

"Come here." He said pointing at Narea. The girl didn't react. Mint caught her hand in order to bolster up her courage.

"I told you to come up to me." The man had ordered once again. Black-haired girl got up very slowly, and then approached the bars. The grey haired man showed her black crystal. Eyes of the girl glistened and her hand unintentionally headed towards the longed-for object. The envoy from the Golden Palace immediately moved the jewel back so that Narea could not touch it.

"What's this? What is it used for?" He asked.

"I said that it was family memento very important for me. I cannot lose it." The girl answered with trembling voice. She touched grating of the cell.

"Really? Why is my ring indicating the magical potential hidden in them? What their role is?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about! It's a family memento!" Narea said very loudly looking at the elderly man with a great hate.

"Can I do something like that with it?" The man dropped the crystal to the floor. Drales companions watched with a faint smile and members of the team observed what was happening with the immense anxiety, being afraid of the reaction of their friend.

"Leave it alone! Give me back this crystal!" Narea shouted at the envoy. She reached behind bars, grabbing the robes of the man.

"Give me this crystal back!" She said louder than before, pulling the man to herself. Fury which filled her body gave her extraordinary power. One of guards dressed in black, seeing danger that threatened the guest of the tower, ran up to grating, freed the old man from hands of the young witch and pushed her with all his might, knocking her over to the hard floor. Mint and Alan Scott came to their friend who was trying to get up after the hard landing.

"Are you injured, o revered sage?" Drales asked looking at the man cleaning his robes.

"I can see that the magic clouded her mind. She is too dangerous to be here. We will have to take her to Margouth as fast as possible. Please prepare prisoners for the transport. I'm going to rest to the guestroom." The grey man ordered.

"That's right!" Drales replied.

"Did they have some more magic objects?" The other envoy from the capital city asked. Drales laughed up.

"No, only this one bag full of the abomination." He answered. Alan Scott listened the conversation with an immense anxiety. He realized that the long-haired guard would want to use his ring for his own purpose and it could lead only to the tragedy.

Jessica and Matts was sitting in the closed room on one of the top floors of the tower, the one which they had found earlier, before the arrival of the ornithopter with envoys of the Golden Palace. They wore black the costume and helmets. They knew that the real guard of the tower could barge into the room at any time. Rann's silence, as well as Sakiko and bird's servant of the Master of Dreams absence, caused that they had been afraid what could happen to them in the immediate future. The window from the chamber was opened slightly and sounds of airscrews hitting air and a hiss of the burner heating gas inside the bowl of the balloon came from it. Jessica looked outside, very cautiously so that nobody could notice her.

"Guards appeared outside again. Probably they will be gearing up for the departure." She communicated information to her companion.

"So quickly?" Matts was surprised.

"Perhaps they acknowledged that our friends were too dangerous to hold them in such a place. Maybe they have undergrounds and chambers of tortures specially prepared for such an occasion in the place from where they come." The girl said coming back to the room.

"Or perhaps they acknowledged that they were ordinary peasants searching forbidden places for baubles." The boy suggested.

"If indeed it was like this I wouldn't have a vision about this guy with a long hair and Alan's ring."

"Perhaps this guy cheated these bizarre clerics from the flying machine and took the ring for himself? Perhaps he will want to use it and then something terrible will happen, because this object cannot be worn by somebody else than Alan?"

"I don't know... irrespective of true meaning of my vision, we should not let him get Alan's ring."

"What can we do? We two against large group of armed people."

"Perhaps we will find something what will help us here?"

"In the library? Probably we will read them to the death! Wait..." The girl heard some noise coming from behind the shutter. When she looked outside it turned out that her premonitions for the bad course of events turned out to be true. A large group of armed guards under the lead of Drales, two honorable guests from the Golden Palace and prisoners chained up. Morpheus were coming out of the tower, Alan Scott, Mint and Narea as well as Corinthian obediently headed towards the flying machine.

"Damn it!" Jessica clenched her fists.

"What are we doing?"

"I don't know... we cannot let them take them! We have no clue where they can move them! We must act now."

"And your clairvoyance? Isn't it useful now?" Matts was irritated. Prospect of getting stuck in the world, which he didn't believe in, horrified him.

"My visions are unpredictable! I already told you about it! And be quiet, or they will find us and we will be locked too!"

"Jessica. We can't quarrel now." Matts calmed down going back into the vicinity of the shutter.

"Well. We cannot do anything, let us not be caught. Well... Rann is not with us so maybe he is close to the team and he's planning to do something to free them. He defeated three guards earlier in the forest..."

"He killed them." Matts corrected the girl.

"He defeated them. I don't care what he did with them now. I don't intend to agonize over it."

"Look." The boy stopped the conversation in order to show the friend what happened beneath the tower. Two guards dressed in black carried some box on the deck of the flying machine. When prisoners were inside the ornithopter, dignitaries from the capital city also entered the machine. Guards didn't leave the deck of the airship, they were going to flown as the additional protection of the prisoners. The machine got off the ground and raised higher and higher. After a moment, it gained the height appropriate for the voyage and her airscrews provided the right force pushing her monotonously towards Margouth.

"We lost them." The boy sitting on the floor announced.

"Perhaps one of guards flying with prisoners is Rann in disguise? It has always turned out to be the case in movies." The girl added smiling.

"Let us walk away. We must get out of the tower not arousing any suspicions. We must come off until all guards are excited with sending prisoners away." Matts got up going in the direction of the door. Jessica was skeptical.

"And what then? What will we do after leaving the tower?"

"We'll look for Sakiko. Now we know that she wasn't caught, so she must be somewhere there. If soldiers killed her, they certainly would showed her body to these grandfathers in cassocks. Nothing like this happened and this means that Sakiko had to escape them. And most importantly Matthew is with her. If we stay in an open spaces, he should find us without a problem."

"Ok. It's the only thing we can do now."

Jessica and Matts they left the library and followed the stone corridor towards stairs to the lower levels of the building. At some point they came across one of guards. The man directed his sword at them.

"Stop!" He shouted.

"What's the problem? We've just started the patrol! We cannot be late or the commander will skin us." Matts replied very nervously.

"You're lying. Nobody of guards present in the tower goes beyond walls without the weapons. You don't have even daggers. And apart from that there's no women in the tower!" The soldier announced looking at Jessica.

"Your silhouette. The way you're taking steps and keeping your weight in the balance... it isn't a manner of walking of the man." The man continued.

"You're lucky, that others don't have such an eyesight as I." He announced taking his helmet off. The man turned out to be Rann Shaner. Jessica and Matts felt relieved, convinced that they were not in any danger and at the same time they became sad. If Rann stood before them, he could not be simultaneously aboard the flying ship carrying their friends into the unknown place.

"Didn't you fly with them?"

"No. Drales, their boss didn't choose me as protection for prisoners. But I know where they were taken. I was there, when they talked."

"Where?"

"They're going to the place called the Golden Palace. It's probably located in the capital city or some other important city of these lands. Now we must learn how to get there. We have other problem. It regards Drales..."

"Did he take Alan's ring and didn't give it back to these guys?" The girl interjected stopping the statement of the man.

"You already know..." Rann was surprised.

"I had a vision of the future in which he used the ring against us."

"Ah yes... that's not important! We must get out from here and think how to find the ring. There's too few of us to confront Drales' people. And only I'm able to fight them." The man said smiling maliciously.

"Not only you. Sakiko is free too. We must find her." Matts replied.

"Yes... she's able to fight better than you're able to imagine." Rann announced mysteriously putting the helmet on.

"We're going." He ordered clearly implying that the time for talks had ended.

When Sakiko Hayasu came back from Margouth, the Sun started hiding behind the horizon and the night was closing in. The girl stopped on the hill covered with grass from which there was an uncanny view of hills dragging on and on, embroiled by dark leaf-shaped forests here and there. The bird circulated above her head observing everything around. At some point, the young female vampire felt that her horse had been alarmed, as if it sensed the appearance of something unusual and not fitting to the evening landscape. Matthew landed on the girl's shoulder.

"It is coming again." He said.

"What?"

"Look at the sky, in the direction of that village and the tower of the mage. Something is coming, something that we came across earlier during the journey to the graveyard."

Sakiko raised her head noticing the ornithopter gliding slowly on the overcast sky. The majestic machine moved flushing all birds out from nearby trees. The female vampire closed her eyes.

"It's probably some air transport trail here. We should not bother with this." She announced.

"Yes. Better let us hurry up."

"Wait..." The girl spoke unexpectedly.

"What's going on? Is something coming again?"

"No. But my hand... I feel the warmth again. As if the scepter tried to tell me something again."

"Come on! I know that this scepter worked miracles and made a remarkable impression on you, but you should not let your imagination rule over you so often! The scepter disappeared and some pal who helped us with nothing appeared at its place."

"He helped us... he gave me something that I must give to Morpheus. But now... be quiet..." Sakiko hushed the bird up, implying for him clearly to leave her alone and flew to glide between evening clouds. She felt the warmth in the hand and her mind fell into the state of semi-dream. She could see places and events which the old man showed her earlier, but this time they were distant, as quiet as the movie in color of sepia registered on the very old celluloid film.

The girl could see scenes in which the certain objects were a central part: a yellowed page from the book lying on the stone table watched attentively by men in dark hooded habits and the candles whose flames reflected in their old eyes, the black-haired woman sitting alone in the large chamber and the Egyptian symbol of life, Ankh cross, hanging freely from her hand, the sword sticking in rock on the sky lightened up by myriads of colorful stars, dark, gloomy mirror inside the stone chamber overgrown by dust, young girl standing amongst golden fields and cereal crops tousled by the wind, strange colorful fractal patterns, seeming to be a life form, watched by a group of men, who weren't able to understand. In Sakiko's mind, the new data imagined by the Golden Globe was encrypted.

In the same time, Astaroth looked at his living prison built from trees of the forest cathedral, the gift of nature. Tarot Cards lay on the table made from a stump. The demon looked at them fleetingly, knowing that his old friend gave him the possibility of the minimal contact with the reality. The old witch whom he called Juan gave him the opportunity for the contact with something different than leaves of walls holding him prisoner, keeping him alive for centuries. The pale hand of the black-haired man moved along the table with magic objects and his mind tried to communicate with other beings similar to him, hiding in different nooks of the inconceivably endless Omniverse. There was some party in the big room ornamented with candelabra, vases painted into colorful patterns and portraits looking from walls. Men dressed in suits and faces hidden behind Venetian masks and naked women groveling at their feet, tied with chains to them, filled the ballroom. The party began and every consecutive hour could bring only bigger debauchery and corruption. In the corner of the room, a fat man in the suit was sitting. His face was sweaty and fat flies with golden abdomens walked on his skin. Somewhere else, the men dressed in old habits carried the cage through the corridor plunged into darkness and gloomy songs were heard around. There was a strange being was trapped inside the cage, man-goat, two selves in the state of the continuous fight against each other, each of them wanting to dominate, but none was strong enough to destroy one's opponent. In other scene, some strange figure waited for something on the hill enveloped by the heavy, white fog. The man dressed in the red armor, mounting dark horse looked at forests under him. The eye looking from under his helmet seemed to turn to all possible directions, as the eye of a large chameleon. Astaroth's mind was receiving another visions, but the demon stopped them. He didn't want to know more. He felt satisfaction, that the ones who humiliated and imprisoned him will come across a lot of adversity on their journey.

Drales was sitting in his study looking at Green Lantern's ring on his centre finger. The man started to think, whether he did the right thing hiding the object confiscated from Alan Scott from Envoys of the Golden Palace. The impossibility of using the artifact in such an extraordinary way as the village idiot Fiflet described caused that he had doubted the truth of the magic inside the ring. He decided to relax and think about something pleasant, something that could turn his attention away from all problems. In the same moment a column of the green fire from the ring and immediately took the form of the naked harlot from some tavern in Margouth.


End file.
